[1] He was the fourth child of Michael Eli Scarf and Amelia, née Zraysarty, who had both migrated from Lebanon.

[2] In February 1938, Scarf won the wrestling gold medal at the Empire Games in Sydney in the light heavyweight division.

[5] He had been training with American wrestlers, Ray Steele, Dean Detton, and Bobby Roberts.

[5] He was crowned professional champion by defeating Jim Bartlett of New Zealand one fall to nil in four rounds.

[2] He served with the Parachute Training Unit from 1943 and in 1944 participated in an exhibition wrestling match with Jerry Visscher during a boxing tournament in Madang, New Guinea.