Paul Haggis Wiki: 5 Facts To Know About The 'Million Dollar Baby' Producer

Paul Haggis is a 64 year-old Canadian screenwriter, film director and producer. He has many feathers to his crown including an Academy Award for Best Picture for the film 'Million Dollar Baby' in 2004 and another Academy Award for Best Picture for the film 'Crash' in 2004. His other film credits include 'Casino Royale' in 2006, 'Our Fathers' in 2006 and 'The Next Three Days' in 2010. Paul Haggis has also worked on TV Shows like 'Family Law', 'Due South' and 'Walker, Texas Ranger'. Born in 1953 in London, Canada to parents Ted Haggis and Mary Metcalf, Paul was the only brother amongst two sisters. His sisters, Jo Haggis and Kathy Haggis, attended the H.B. Beal Secondary school along with him. He later studied cinematography at the Fanshawe College. Paul Haggis began his career as a screenwriter for TV Shows in the 70s. He has done screenwriting for Tv Shows like 'The Love Boat', 'Diff'rent Strokes', 'One Day at a Time' and 'The Facts of Life'. Haggis has also served as a producer, director and writer for the ABC series, 'Thirtysomething' from 1987 to 1988. His crime series 'Due South' ran for 4 seasons from 1994 to 1999. 'Due South' won two Emmy Awards, including one for outstanding drama series. Later on, he created many other TV series and shows till 2002. Haggis made his directorial debut with the drama, 'Red Hot' in 1993. 'Million Dollar Baby' was his first big project for which he won an Oscar Award. His Oscar-winning film 'Crash' was dubbed the best film of 2005 by critic Roger Ebert. He also rendered his directorial skills to films 'In the Valley of Elah' in 2007, 'The Next Three Days' in 2010 and 'Third Person' in 2013. Haggis is quite tall as 6 feet and he has a Scottish and English ancestry. Haggis currently resides in Santa Monica, California. He was married to 'Diana Gettas' from 1977 to 1997. The couple have three children, Katy, Lauren and Alissa. He divorced Gettas in 1977 and married actress 'Deborah Rennard' in 1997. They had a son, 'James' in 1998. The director came into limelight in 2018, after various allegations of sexual misconduct including two rapes were put on him. His accusers include Haleigh Breest and some others.

He has a net worth of $70 million. He has acquired such a huge net worth through his films and television shows.

Paul Haggis has had a long and successful career in films and television. There are some interesting facts about the skilled director which you might be interested in:

Paul Haggis had a heart attack during the filming of his movie, 'Crash' in 2004, yet the director refused to let anyone finish the direction of the film. He took rest for two weeks only and returned to directing after the event.

Paul Haggis was nominated for an Oscar for writing three years in a row: 2005, 2006 and 2007. Haggis became the first person in the history of Oscars to have written back-to-back Best Picture winners.

Paul Haggis strongly denies the fresh allegations of sexual misconduct against him. He said that the allegations were made as a tactic to force a multimillion dollar settlement or the result of his long estrangement from Scientology. So far, three women have come forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct after the first woman Haleigh Breest filed a civil suit last month accusing Haggis of rape. All the three women approached Breest's attorneys with their claims. The new accusers allege that the Hollywood personality used to lure them to secluded places and attempt to force himself on them. Haggis denies these anonymous claims in whole.

Paul Haggis identifies himself as an atheist and was active in the Church of Scientology for more than 30 years. But he left the 'Church of Scientology' in 2009. After the long estrangement from Scientology he now has become its biggest critic. According to him, the church has listed him as their enemy. Talking about Scientology in an interview, Haggis said, "Demands for donations never seemed to stop. They used friends and any kind of pressure they could apply. I gave them money just to keep them from calling and hounding me."

While winning the Oscar for 'Crash' in 2004, he said, " Was it the best film of the year? I don't think so, there were great films that year. Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005) - amazing film. Capote (2005) - terrific film. Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain (2005), great film. And Spielberg's Munich (2005). I mean please, what a year. Crash, for some reason, affected people, it touched people. And you can't judge these films like that. I'm very glad to have those Oscars. They're lovely things. But you shouldn't ask me what the best film of the year was because I wouldn't be voting for Crash, only because I saw the artistry that was in the other films. Now however, for some reason that's the film that touched people the most that year. So I guess that's what they voted for, something that really touched them. And I'm very proud of the fact that Crash does touch you. People still come up to me more than any of my films and say: "That film just changed my life." I've heard that dozens and dozens and dozens of times. So it did its job there. I mean, I knew it was the social experiment that I wanted, so I think it's a really good social experiment. Is it a great film? I don't know."

The wonderful director, producer and writer has given his bit to the entertainment industry and audience at large with some lovely films. May he continue his great work!