Paul Haggis

Paul Edward Haggis was born in London, Ontario, the son of Mary Yvonne (née Metcalf) and Ted Haggis, a World War II veteran and Olympic sprinter in the 1948 Summer Olympics.

He was raised as a Catholic, attending Catholic school and facing confrontations with children from Ontario's Protestant majority.

His family had stopped going to Mass after finding their parish priest driving a Cadillac, and he considered himself an atheist by early adulthood.

The Gallery Theatre in London was owned by his parents, and Haggis gained experience in the field through work at the theatre.

Haggis attended St. Thomas More Elementary School.

He started secondary school at Ridley College in St. Catharines, but began getting into bad behavior by skipping his required Royal Canadian Army Cadets drills, breaking into the prefect's office to erase his demerits, and reading the radical magazine Ramparts.

After a year, Haggis's parents transferred him to a more progressive preparatory school in Muskoka Lakes.

Haggis was taught by a producer of the CBC Radio One news program As It Happens, who allowed him to sit with him as he edited John Dean's testimony to the Watergate hearings for broadcast.

After being inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard, Haggis proceeded to study art at H. B. Beal Secondary School.

He opened a theater in Toronto to screen films banned by the Ontario Board of Censors such as The Devils and Last Tango in Paris.

Paul Edward Haggis (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian screenwriter, film producer, and director of film and television.

After viewing Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup in 1974, he traveled to England with the intent of becoming a fashion photographer.

Haggis later returned to Canada to pursue studies in cinematography at Fanshawe College.

While in London, Ontario, Haggis was converted to the Church of Scientology.

In 1975, Haggis moved to Los Angeles|Los Angeles, California, to begin a career in writing in the entertainment industry.

Haggis began to work as a writer for television programs, including Dingbat and the Creeps, Richie Rich, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, The Love Boat, One Day at a Time, Diff'rent Strokes, and The Facts of Life.

With The Facts of Life, Haggis also gained his first credit as producer.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Haggis wrote for television series including thirtysomething, The Tracey Ullman Show, FM, Due South, L.A. Law, and EZ Streets.

He helped to create the television series Walker, Texas Ranger; Family Law; and Due South.

Haggis served as executive producer of the series Michael Hayes and Family Law.

He is the creator of the television series Due South (1994–1999) and co-creator of Walker, Texas Ranger (1993–2001), among others.

Haggis is a two-time Academy Award winner, two-time Emmy Award winner, and seven-time Gemini Award winner.

He also assisted in the making of "We Are the World 25 for Haiti".

In November 2022, he was found liable in a civil trial which alleged he raped publicist Haleigh Breest and he was required to pay $10 million in damages.

In 1999, he signed a first look deal with Columbia TriStar Television.

He is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Crash (2005), the latter of which he also directed.

He gained recognition in the film industry for his work on the 2004 film Million Dollar Baby, which Allmovie described as a "serious milestone" for the writer/producer, and as "his first high-profile foray into feature film".

Haggis had read two stories written by Jerry Boyd, a boxing trainer who wrote under the name of F.X. Toole.

Haggis later acquired the rights to the stories, and developed them into the screenplay for Million Dollar Baby.

Clint Eastwood portrayed the lead character in the film.

Eastwood also directed the film, and used the screenplay written by Haggis.

Million Dollar Baby received four Academy Awards including the Academy Award for Best Picture.

After Million Dollar Baby, Haggis worked on the 2004 film Crash.

Haggis came up with the story for the film on his own, and then wrote and directed the film, which allowed him greater control over his work.

Crash was his first experience as director of a major feature film.

Highly positive upon release, critical reception of Crash has since polarized, although Roger Ebert called it the best film of 2005.

Crash received Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Director, in addition to four other Academy Award nominations.

Haggis received two Academy Awards for the film: Best Picture (as its producer), and Best Writing for his work on the screenplay.

With Million Dollar Baby and then Crash, Haggis became the first individual to have written Best Picture Oscar-winners in two consecutive years.

Haggis also co-wrote the war film Flags of Our Fathers (2006) and the James Bond films Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008).