Paul Haggis

At 71 years old, Paul Haggis physical status not available right now. We will update Paul Haggis's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.

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

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

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).

He is the creator of Due South (1994-1991), co-creator of Walker, Texas Ranger (1993–2001), among other things.

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

He also assisted in the production of the "We Are the World 25 For Haiti" music video. Haggis is now embroiled in a civil lawsuit relating to a suspected sexual assault in New York City in 2013.

Early life

Paul Edward Haggis was born in London, Ontario, the son of Mary Yvonne (née Metcalf) and Ted Haggis, a World War II soldier and Olympic sprinter in the 1948 Summer Olympics. He was raised as a Catholic, attending Catholic school, and dealing with children from Ontario's Protestant majority. Since finding their parish priest driving a Cadillac, his family had to leave Mass, and he regarded him as an atheist by early adulthood. The Gallery Theatre in London was owned by his parents, and Haggis gained expertise in the field from his time as a technician at the Theatre.

The Haggis attended St. Thomas More Elementary School. He started secondary school at Ridley College in St. Catharines but soon fell into bad habits by skipping his mandatory Royal Canadian Army Cadets drills, breaking into the prefect's office to hide his demeans, and reading Ramparts, a modern newspaper. After a year Haggis' parents' transfer to a more inclusive preparatory academy in Muskoka Lakes, he was transferred to a new preparatory academy. Haggis was taught by a producer of the CBC Radio One news program As It Happens, who permitted him to join John Dean as he edited his testimony to the Watergate hearings for broadcast.

Haggis began studying art at H. B. Beal Secondary School after being inspired by Alfred Hitchcock and Jean-Luc Godard. In Toronto, he opened The Devils and Last Tango in Paris, which had been outlawed by the Ontario Board of Censors. After seeing Michelangelo Antonioni's 1966 film Blowup in 1974, he moved to England with the intention of becoming a fashion photographer. Haggis later returned to Canada to study cinematography at Fanshawe College. Haggis was converted to the Church of Scientology in London, Ontario. Haggis began writing in Los Angeles, California, in 1975.

Personal life

Haggis lives in Santa Monica, California. He has three children from his first marriage to Diana Gettas and one son from his second marriage to Deborah Rennard. Jo Francis, his younger sister, is a film editor; they've worked on several projects together.

Haggis founded Artists for Peace and Justice in 2009 to support Haiti's impoverished youth. Haggis admitted that he is an atheist in an interview with Dan Rather.

Haggis left the Church of Scientology in 2005 after being active for 35 years. In reaction to proposition 8, the church of Scientology's San Diego branch of Scientology's support for Proposition 8, California's ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriages.

Haggis wrote to Tommy Davis, the Church's spokesperson, and demanded that he denounce these remarks; when Davis refused to speak, Haggis replied, "silence is consent," Tommy says. I refuse to consent." Haggis went on to list other grievances against Scientology, including its disconnection policy and the smearing of its ex-members by the leak of their personal information.

"The decision by Beghe and Haggis to abandon Scientology appears to have caused the movement's greatest recent PR challenges, not least because of the fact that the company's most costly courses and an advertisement for the faith."

Haggis was asked about the similarities between his film The Next Three Days and his departure from the Scientology company in a movie interview; Haggis replied, "I think one's life always parallels art and art parallels life." In February 2011, the New Yorker published "The Apostate," by Lawrence Wright, describing Haggis' claims regarding the Church of Scientology. "I was in a cult for thirty-four years," Haggis wrote in the article. It's likely that everyone else would have seen it. I'm not sure why I couldn't," I can't remember. For the 2015 film Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Haggis was interviewed as part of a team of ex-scientologists.

According to Variety, Haleigh Breest had filed a lawsuit against Paul Haggis about an alleged incident in 2013. Haggis denied all charges and filed a countersuit, arguing that Breest intended to bankrupt him by obtaining a $9 million settlement. His case was dismissed. The case concerning Breest is pending due to COVID-19-related delays.

Haggis had begged a judge to expedite his civil hearing, according to Variety in April 2021. "I can not continue to pay his court bills," he said. "At the first practical date," Haggis requested that the judge schedule a trial. "The defendant is no longer in a position to pay his defense if the lawsuit lingers in anticipation of trial," his counsel, Seth Zuckerman, wrote in the motion. Haggis denied the charges, saying that one of the accusers tried to kidnade him for $9 million. Haggis was ordered to perform a DNA test as part of court hearings in July 2019. According to published reports, Haggis and his legal team have attempted to prevent the presence of additional innocent victims as the first civil lawsuit proceeds to trial. Following the initial accusation, three new women came forward with a slew of sexual assault and misconduct.

Leah Remini and Mike Rinder, fellow Scientology defectors, have defended him, suggesting that Scientology may be involved, which contradicts both the accusators and Church of Scientology's assertion.

According to The New York Times and The Guardian, Haggis was arrested in Ostuni, Southern Italy, on June 19, 2022, on suspicion of sexual harassment. He was charged with increased sexual abuse and aggravated personal injury, according to local law enforcement. On July 4, a judge from Brindisi's local court reversed Haggis' house arrest. A three-judge jury of the District Court of Lecce unanimously dismissed the charges against Haggis on July 29.

Source

Career

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

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 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.

He has been a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the Writer's Branch since 2005. This allows him to vote on the Academy Awards.

In 2008, Haggis founded production company Hwy61 Films with producer Michael Nozik, and signed a deal to produce films for United Artists. The company is named after the title track of Bob Dylan's 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited.

Source