Paul Haggis

Paul Haggis
Name	Paul Haggis
Caption	Haggis in 2013
Birth date	10 March 1953
Birth place	London, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Film director, screenwriter, film producer
Years active	1975–present
Spouse	Diane Christine Gettas (1977–1994), Deborah Rennard (1997–2016)
Alma mater	St. John's School

Paul Haggis is a Canadian filmmaker and screenwriter renowned for his work in both television and cinema. He gained major recognition for writing the acclaimed films Million Dollar Baby and Crash, the latter of which he also directed and produced, winning the Academy Award for Best Picture. His career spans influential television series and socially conscious films, though it has been significantly impacted by serious personal controversies.

Early life and education

He was born in London, Ontario, to Mary and Ted Haggis. He attended St. John's School, a private institution in his hometown, where he developed an early interest in the arts. His initial career path was not in film; he moved to England to study fashion design and later traveled extensively, including a period living in Toronto.

Career

His professional career began in television, writing for popular Canadian series such as The Love Boat. He achieved significant success as a creator and producer of American television, co-creating the acclaimed drama thirtysomething and creating the series Due South. His transition to film was marked by writing the screenplay for the James Bond film Casino Royale. He earned his first Academy Award nomination for writing Million Dollar Baby, directed by Clint Eastwood. His directorial breakthrough came with Crash, an interwoven narrative examining Los Angeles race relations, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. He later directed and wrote films like In the Valley of Elah and The Next Three Days. He has also been an outspoken member of the Church of Scientology, which he publicly renounced in 2009, becoming a prominent critic.

Personal life

He was married to Diane Christine Gettas from 1977 until their divorce in 1994; the couple had three children. In 1997, he married actress Deborah Rennard, known for her role on Dallas; they had one child before divorcing in 2016. His departure from the Church of Scientology was highly publicized, detailed in a 2011 article for The New Yorker. He has been a resident of Santa Monica, California.

Filmography

A selected list of his major works includes *Million Dollar Baby (2004) as writer, *Crash (2004) as director, writer, and producer, *Casino Royale (2006) as co-writer, *Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) as co-producer, *In the Valley of Elah (2007) as director and writer, *Quantum of Solace (2008) as co-writer, and *The Next Three Days (2010) as director and writer.

Awards and nominations

His work on Crash earned him two Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, and the film also won the BAFTA Award for Best Film. He received an Academy Award nomination for Million Dollar Baby. He has been nominated for multiple Primetime Emmy Awards for his television work on thirtysomething and won a Humanitas Prize. He is also a recipient of the Writers Guild of America Award.

Controversies

In June 2022, he was arrested in Ostuni, Italy, on charges of aggravated sexual assault and personal injury, allegations stemming from an incident with a woman he met there. He was held under house arrest for over two weeks before being released. This followed previous civil lawsuits in the United States, including a 2017 case where a publicist accused him of rape, which led to a civil trial; a jury found him liable for sexual battery. He has consistently denied all allegations, attributing them to his status as a former high-profile member of the Church of Scientology. The Italian criminal trial is ongoing.

Category:Canadian film directors Category:Canadian screenwriters Category:Best Picture Academy Award winners