“Roy Marcus Cohn (/koʊn/; February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer best known for being Senator Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954, for assisting with McCarthy’s investigations of suspected communists, and as a top political fixer.[2][3][4][5]
Born in New York City and educated at Columbia University, Cohn rose to prominence as a U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor at the espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, which concluded with the Rosenbergs’ executions in 1953. As McCarthy’s chief counsel, Cohn came to be closely associated with McCarthyism and its downfall. He also represented Donald Trump during his early business career.
In 1986, Cohn was disbarred from the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court for unethical conduct after attempting to defraud a dying client by forcing the client to sign a will amendment leaving him his fortune.[6] Cohn died five weeks later from AIDS-related complications.[7] ”
When Cohn brought on G. David Schine as chief consultant to the McCarthy staff, speculation arose that Schine and Cohn had a sexual relationship.[50][51] Although some historians have concluded the Schine–Cohn friendship was platonic,[51][52][53] others state, based on the testimony of friends, that Cohn was gay.[54][55] During the Army–McCarthy hearings, Cohn denied having any “special interest” in Schine or being bound to him “closer than to the ordinary friend.”[51] Joseph Welch, the Army’s attorney in the hearings, made an apparent reference to Cohn’s homosexuality. After asking a witness, at McCarthy’s request, if a photo entered as evidence “came from a pixie”, he defined “pixie” as “a close relative of a fairy”.[51] Though “pixie” was a camera-model name at the time, the comparison to “fairy,” a derogatory term for a homosexual man, had clear implications. The people at the hearing recognized the slur and found it amusing; Cohn later called the remark “malicious,” “wicked,” and “indecent.”[51]
Speculation about Cohn’s sexuality intensified following his death from AIDS in 1986.[8] In a 2008 article published in The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin quotes Roger Stone: “Roy was not gay. He was a man who liked having sex with men. Gays were weak, effeminate. He always seemed to have these young blond boys around. It just wasn’t discussed. He was interested in power and access.”[56] Stone worked with Cohn beginning with the Reagan campaign during the 1976 Republican Party presidential primaries. “
A dramatic and controversial man in life, Cohn inspired many fictional portrayals after his death. Probably the best known is in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (1991), which portrays Cohn as a closeted, power-hungry hypocrite haunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg as he lies dying of AIDS. In the initial Broadway production, the role was played by Ron Leibman; in the HBO miniseries (2003), Cohn is played by Al Pacino; and in the 2010 Off-Broadway revival by the Signature Theatre Company in Manhattan, the role was reprised by Frank Wood.[63] Nathan Lane played Cohn in the 2017 Royal National Theatre production and the 2018 Broadway production.[64][65]
Cohn is also a character in Kushner’s one-act play, G. David Schine in Hell (1996). He is portrayed by James Woods in the biopic Citizen Cohn (1992), by Joe Pantoliano in Robert Kennedy and His Times (1985), by George Wyner in Tail Gunner Joe (1977), and by David Moreland in The X-Files episode “Travelers” (1998), in which an elderly former FBI agent speaks to Agent Fox Mulder about the early years of the McCarthy era and the beginning of the X-Files. In the early 1990s, Cohn was one of two subjects of Ron Vawter’s one-man show Roy Cohn/Jack Smith; his part was written by Gary Indiana.[66] He was the subject of Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary Where’s My Roy Cohn? (2019).[67]”
“Roy Marcus Cohn (/koʊn/; February 20, 1927 – August 2, 1986) was an American lawyer best known for being Senator Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel during the Army–McCarthy hearings in 1954, for assisting with McCarthy’s investigations of suspected communists, and as a top political fixer.[2][3][4][5]
Born in New York City and educated at Columbia University, Cohn rose to prominence as a U.S. Department of Justice prosecutor at the espionage trial of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, which concluded with the Rosenbergs’ executions in 1953. As McCarthy’s chief counsel, Cohn came to be closely associated with McCarthyism and its downfall. He also represented Donald Trump during his early business career.
In 1986, Cohn was disbarred from the Appellate Division of the New York State Supreme Court for unethical conduct after attempting to defraud a dying client by forcing the client to sign a will amendment leaving him his fortune.[6] Cohn died five weeks later from AIDS-related complications.[7] ”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Cohn
Further more:
“Sexuality
When Cohn brought on G. David Schine as chief consultant to the McCarthy staff, speculation arose that Schine and Cohn had a sexual relationship.[50][51] Although some historians have concluded the Schine–Cohn friendship was platonic,[51][52][53] others state, based on the testimony of friends, that Cohn was gay.[54][55] During the Army–McCarthy hearings, Cohn denied having any “special interest” in Schine or being bound to him “closer than to the ordinary friend.”[51] Joseph Welch, the Army’s attorney in the hearings, made an apparent reference to Cohn’s homosexuality. After asking a witness, at McCarthy’s request, if a photo entered as evidence “came from a pixie”, he defined “pixie” as “a close relative of a fairy”.[51] Though “pixie” was a camera-model name at the time, the comparison to “fairy,” a derogatory term for a homosexual man, had clear implications. The people at the hearing recognized the slur and found it amusing; Cohn later called the remark “malicious,” “wicked,” and “indecent.”[51]
Speculation about Cohn’s sexuality intensified following his death from AIDS in 1986.[8] In a 2008 article published in The New Yorker, Jeffrey Toobin quotes Roger Stone: “Roy was not gay. He was a man who liked having sex with men. Gays were weak, effeminate. He always seemed to have these young blond boys around. It just wasn’t discussed. He was interested in power and access.”[56] Stone worked with Cohn beginning with the Reagan campaign during the 1976 Republican Party presidential primaries. “
“Media portrayals
A dramatic and controversial man in life, Cohn inspired many fictional portrayals after his death. Probably the best known is in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes (1991), which portrays Cohn as a closeted, power-hungry hypocrite haunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg as he lies dying of AIDS. In the initial Broadway production, the role was played by Ron Leibman; in the HBO miniseries (2003), Cohn is played by Al Pacino; and in the 2010 Off-Broadway revival by the Signature Theatre Company in Manhattan, the role was reprised by Frank Wood.[63] Nathan Lane played Cohn in the 2017 Royal National Theatre production and the 2018 Broadway production.[64][65]
Cohn is also a character in Kushner’s one-act play, G. David Schine in Hell (1996). He is portrayed by James Woods in the biopic Citizen Cohn (1992), by Joe Pantoliano in Robert Kennedy and His Times (1985), by George Wyner in Tail Gunner Joe (1977), and by David Moreland in The X-Files episode “Travelers” (1998), in which an elderly former FBI agent speaks to Agent Fox Mulder about the early years of the McCarthy era and the beginning of the X-Files. In the early 1990s, Cohn was one of two subjects of Ron Vawter’s one-man show Roy Cohn/Jack Smith; his part was written by Gary Indiana.[66] He was the subject of Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary Where’s My Roy Cohn? (2019).[67]”