Peter MacFarlane was born on March 8, 1871 in St Clair County, Missouri, USA. He was a railroad clerk before entering the world of entertainment. MacFarlane started as a stage actor before turning to writing. He was a writer, known for F. P. 1 Doesn't Answer (1933), Molly of the Follies (1919) and Guile of Women (1920). MacFarlane was married to Florence J. with whom he had four children.

MacFarlane was struggling with an incurable kidney disease which led him to shoot himself on the steps of the San Francisco morgue on June 9, 1924.