Nugent was born in Niles, Ohio, and attended Reeves University.

[2] Nugent's Broadway debut came in the comedy Kempy (1922), which he wrote.

[4] Dorothy Parker enthusiastically reviewed Kempy in her theater column in Ainslee's Magazine, saying, "People strayed into the Belmont Theatre on the opening night with an air of, 'I may stick it out for an act or so, but I'm glad of the chance to get to bed early.'

Nugent was also the father-in-law of actor Alan Bunce of Ethel and Albert fame.

This article about a United States film actor born in the 1860s is a stub.