Charles A. Pebworth was born on November 3, 1926, in Kinta, Oklahoma to Louis Aaron Pebworth and Ann Lorene Hodges. Charles was the second eldest of five children. At the age of six, his family moved to Pawhuska, Oklahoma, and lived with the Osage Nation due to his father's work as an employee at the Osage Indian Agency. Pebworth himself is a member of the Choctaw tribe.

In 1945, Pebworth joined the war effort as a paratrooper. After World War II ended, Pebworth used the G.I. Bill to attend Colorado A&M, now known as Colorado State University (1946). After his studies in Colorado, Pedworth followed a fellow friend to Los Angeles to study at the Los Angeles Art Center (1946). Pebworth continued his studies at Baylor University (1948-1950) with a focus on painting but left to join the Korean War effort. During the Korean War, Pebworth was deployed to Japan and Korea. After his service in the war, Pebworth went to the University of Oklahoma (1952-1953), though he left to attend the University of Houston. Although Pebworth left his studies at the University of Oklahoma, he met his wife there. Charles and Nona had four children; Jared, Allison (who became an artist in her own right), Lisa, and Jeffery.

Charles Pebworth received his Bachelor of Fine Arts with a focus in painting from the University of Houston in 1950. In 1955, Pebworth started his master's program at Louisiana State University. It was here where Pebworth discovered sculpture through a professor and earned his degree in sculpture in 1957.

After graduating with his master's degree Pebworth took a teaching position at Sam Houston State Univerisity, then Sam Houston State Teachers College, to teach basic design. Later Pebworth taught painting, then went on to teach ceramics after he developed a course, and lastly, Pebworth taught sculpture.

Along with teaching at SHSU, Pebworth taught at their Mexican Field School in Puebla, Mexico, from 1958 - 1961. He became a guest professor of sculpture at the Corpus Christi Fine Arts Colony of Del Mar Collete and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas.

Pebworth also conducted an independent study in Carrara, Italy (1971-1972). Pebworth was involved with marble sculpture and bronze casting in his independent study in Carrara. Through his contacts, he used marble from the Carrara Quarry to sculpt his pieces, the same quarry Michelangelo used.

In 1987, Pebworth was designated a Texas Artist of the Year.

In 1993, Pebworth retired from his teaching position at SHSU to focus on his art career. Due to his retirement, the Charles Pebworth Sculpture Endowment Scholarship was established to honor Pebworth's thirty-six years of service. The scholarship is awarded annually each spring to help students to pursue their studies in sculpture.

Charles Pebworth had several one-person and group exhibitions throughout Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, New Mexico, and North Dakota. Pebworth also has several permanent public collections and private collections, including from international clients. Some of his permanent public collections are in the Mobile Art Gallery of Mobile, Alabama; Marshall Field and Company of Chicago, Illinois; Arkansas Art Center; Oklahoma City Museum of Art; the Atrsodome of Houston, Texas; and two sculptures within the Newton Gresham Library at SHSU.

Charles A. Pebworth died on January 10, 2019, at 92.

Nona Pebworth died in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on April 21, 2022.