Kathy Slevin

A native of London, Ontario, Kathy Slevin has spent nearly two decades in Los Angeles pursuing her career of writing and producing television.

Although Canadian, she began her writing career in the Hollywood television industry. She learned her craft by watching and working with other writers, and employing the tried-and-true method of trial and error. As a freelance writer, she wrote an episode of NBC's sitcom Facts of LIfe, and went on to bigger and better things: as writer/story editor for the CBS half-hour sitcom, City, as executive story editor for the NBC series Ferris Bueller and the ABC series Hard Hats. She also worked as an executive story editor and co-producer of ABC's Room for Two, and she then went on to work on Due South.

Kathy also worked as a contributing writer on films such Red Hot, Watchers, and Iron Eagle II, and worked on pilots such as 2030 and Walker, Texas Ranger.

The Mountie drama/comedy Due South afforded Kathy an opportunity she had not previously encountered: to work with much of her family. While her brother Paul (Haggis) was the creator of the series, and the two had previously worked on projects, Kathy was able to work with her sister Joey Young and father Ted Haggis, both of whom were Lincoln's (AKA Diefenbaker) handlers. She found that to be a very enjoyable experience.

Kathy came on board in the first season as the co-executive producer, penning several episodes. For Kathy, it wasn't a matter of pure comedy or drama. "I always find myself not wanting to write anything that doesn't have some comedy in it, because I personally would rather laugh than cry" she said. "And I think it's more interesting. You're able to point out the drama far more poignantly when you add comedy to it." That concept shined quite brightly in the episode "The Wild Bunch," in which Fraser faced the possible loss of his canine companion, Diefenbaker.

Kathy enjoyed writing for both Fraser and Vecchio, the lead characters of the show, whom she likens to "two halves of the same whole." She considered the characters her own, as she had to 'become them' in order to write them. It was the second season episode, "Juliet is Bleeding," that remains her favorite to this day. When Due South had been cancelled after one season, and miraculously returned for a second, Kathy came back as Executive Producer for the first ten episodes, then departed to pursue other projects. However, she returned afterwards to pen "Juliet is Bleeding," a dark tale of revenge and its consequences.

Kathy has since then kept several irons in the fire, so to speak. She worked on a screenplay entitled O'Reilly's Run, based on a true story and about a subject that she enjoys quite a bit -- how one man can make a difference. She loves classic movies and epics, stating that the film Sense and Sensibility was one of her favorites.

She's been busy creating new series concepts, such as Mars One, a series pilot for CBS which was later retitled Columbus One (it was unfortunately 'backburned' by the network while they pursued more sitcoms to fill their timeslots). However, it won't be very long at all before we see her name in the credits again.

Due South Crew Information | William & Elyse's Due South Page