29 Facts About Paul Haggis

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

Paul Haggis is best known as screenwriter and producer for consecutive Best Picture Oscar winners Million Dollar Baby and Crash, the latter of which he directed.

Paul Haggis is the creator of the television series Due South and co-creator of Walker, Texas Ranger, among others.

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

Paul Haggis assisted in the making of "We Are the World 25 for Haiti".

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

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

Paul Haggis's 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 Paul Haggis gained experience in the field through work at the theatre.

Paul 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.

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

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

Paul 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.

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

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

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

Paul 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.

Paul Haggis received two Academy Awards for the film: Best Picture, and Best Writing for his work on the screenplay.

Paul Haggis said that he wrote Crash to "bust liberals", arguing that his fellow liberals were not honest with themselves about the nature of race and racism because they believed that most racial problems had already been resolved in American society.

Paul Haggis has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Writer's Branch since 2005.

In 2008, Paul Haggis founded production company Hwy61 Films with producer Michael Nozik, and signed a deal to produce films for United Artists.

Paul Haggis is named after the title track of Bob Dylan's 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited.

Paul Haggis has three daughters from his first marriage to Diana Gettas and one son from his second marriage to Deborah Rennard.

Paul Haggis's younger sister, Jo Francis, is a film editor; they have worked together on several projects.

In 2009, Paul Haggis founded the non-profit organization Artists for Peace and Justice to assist impoverished youth in Haiti.

Paul Haggis was motivated to leave Scientology in reaction to statements made by the San Diego branch of the Church of Scientology in support of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative which banned same-sex marriage in California.

Paul Haggis denied all allegations and filed a countersuit, claiming Breest intended to bankrupt him by extracting a $9 million settlement.

Variety reported in April 2021 that Paul Haggis had asked a judge to expedite his civil trial.