Paul Haggis Net Worth: Early Life, Career& More!

By Jaslin Last updated Nov 14, 2022

The beginning of Paul Haggis’ career in the entertainment industry was spent working as a writer for a variety of television sitcoms, such as “The Facts of Life,” “The Love Boat,” and “One Day at a Time.” The movie “Million Dollar Baby,” which Haggis wrote and produced, was his first significant success in the film industry and came out in 2004.

The film, which starred Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, and Morgan Freeman, was honored with four Oscars, including the award for Best Picture. After the success of “Million Dollar Baby,” Haggis released “Crash” in 2004. He not only authored but also directed the film, which was nominated for multiple Academy Awards and won two of them, including the Oscar for Best Picture and the Oscar for Best Writing.

He is the only individual in the history of the Academy Awards to have ever written back-to-back Best Picture winners, which cemented his place in film history. The movies “Casino Royale,” “Quantum of Solace,” “Terminator Salvation,” and “The Next Three Days” all feature his writing efforts in the scripts.

After more than three decades of membership, he decided to go public with his departure from the Church of Scientology after a local chapter of the organization sponsored Proposition 8 in the state of California. After Haggis left the church, he was profiled in a story that was published in “The New Yorker.”

The article detailed his time spent in the church as well as the accusations made against the organization. He started his own charitable organization called Artists for Peace and Justice, which helps impoverished areas in Haiti. Artists for Peace and Justice

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Paul Haggis Early Life And Education

Paul Haggis was born in London, Ontario, Canada on March 10, 1953, to Mary and Ted, a World War II veteran. He attended St. Thomas More Elementary School because he was raised Catholic. Haggis then attended Ridley College for a time before being disobedient and breaking into the prefect’s office by missing his necessary Royal Canadian Army Cadets drills.

As a result, he was transferred to a more advanced school in Muskoka Lakes. Haggis continued his education at the H. B. Beal Secondary School, where he studied art. In Toronto, he opened a theatre to screen films that had been prohibited by the Ontario Board of Censors. Haggis attended Fanshawe College to study cinematography for his higher schooling.

Paul Haggis Career

In 1975, Haggis relocated to Los Angeles, California to work as a screenwriter in the entertainment industry. He began by writing for television shows such as “Richie Rich,” “One Day at a Time,” and “The Facts of Life.” With the drama “Red Hot,” which he also co-wrote, Haggis made his feature film directorial debut in 1993.

Balthazar Getty plays Alexi, a poor music school student in Soviet-era Latvia who joins a covert rock band. Haggis’ next film credit came in 2004 when he wrote and produced Clint Eastwood’s sports thriller “Million Dollar Baby.”

The film was a tremendous critical and economic success, establishing Haggis’s breakthrough, and was adapted from F.X. Toole’s collection “Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner.” The film “Million Dollar Baby” won four Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Following this, Haggis directed, wrote, and produced the ensemble crime thriller “Crash,” which was a great success and earned Haggis Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay.

Following “Crash,” Haggis wrote screenplays for a number of films. He authored the romantic dramedy “The Last Kiss,” based on a 2001 Italian film, in 2006. He rejoined with Clint Eastwood the same year to co-write the director’s war drama “Flags of Our Fathers,” and he also joined the James Bond franchise by co-writing “Casino Royale.”

“In the Valley of Elah,” which Haggis also wrote, was his next picture as a director. He returned to the Bond franchise the following year to co-write “Quantum of Solace.” Following that, Haggis wrote and directed the action thriller “The Next Three Days” as well as the romance drama “Third Person.” Among his other cinematic credits is the 2018 AIDS documentary “5B,” which he co-directed with Dan Krauss.

In 1987, Haggis had his first significant television credit as a co-writer on the Disney-made-for-TV comedy film “The Return of the Shaggy Dog.” He also began writing for the ABC drama series “thirtysomething” that year. Haggis created his first of several television shows, “City,” for CBS in 1990, starring Valerie Harper.

Ultimately, the show had a brief run and was terminated after only one season. Haggis went on to create another CBS sitcom, “You Take the Kids,” starring Nell Carter. In 1993, he launched the action criminal series “Walker, Texas Ranger,” which he had more success with. The show, which starred Chuck Norris as the title character, aired for eight seasons until 2001.

In the 1990s, Haggis was successful with a number of other series. He created the Canadian series “Due South” in 1994, which he also wrote and directed, and it aired for four seasons until 1999. From 1996 to 1997, Haggis developed, wrote, and directed the CBS crime series “EZ Streets.”

Following that, he created and wrote the television series “Michael Hayes,” which starred David Caruso and Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Haggis’s next hit show was the CBS courtroom drama “Family Law,” which he developed, wrote, and directed. From 1999 to 2002, the series starred Kathleen Quinlan and aired for three seasons. Haggis later conceived, wrote, and directed the short-lived NBC sitcom “The Black Donnellys” in 2007. He received critical acclaim in 2015 for directing the HBO miniseries “Show Me a Hero,” which starred Oscar Isaac as real-life New York politician Nick Wasicsko.

Paul Haggis’s Private Life

In 1977, Haggis married his first wife, Diane Christine Gettas. Before divorcing in 1994, the couple had three daughters. Haggis later married actress Deborah Rennard, with whom he had a son, in 1997. The couple finally divorced in 2016.

Paul Haggis’s Net Worth

Paul paid somewhat less than $4 million for a 3,000-square-foot loft apartment in New York City’s SoHo area in 2010. Paul once owned a $2.6 million home in Santa Monica, California, which he purchased with his ex-wife Deborah Rennard. They sold this house for $2 million in 2010. Paul paid $2.365 million for a new Santa Monica home in 2008.