# Citizen Cohn

Citizen Cohn is a 1992 made-for-TV movie covering the life of Joseph McCarthy's controversial chief counsel Roy Cohn. James Woods, who starred as Cohn, was nominated for both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his performance. Citizen Cohn also stars Joe Don Baker (as McCarthy), Ed Flanders (as Cohn's courtroom nemesis Joseph Welch), Frederic Forrest (as writer Dashiell Hammett), and Pat Hingle (as Cohn's onetime mentor J. Edgar Hoover). It was directed by Frank Pierson. The movie was based on the 1988 book of the same name by Nicholas von Hoffman; it was filmed on location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

## Synopsis

The film spans Cohn's life from childhood through his initial rise to power as McCarthy's right-hand man in the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations hearings and his eventual public discrediting a month before his death in 1986 from AIDS. It is told mostly in flashback as Cohn lies dying at a hospital in Bethesda, Maryland, hallucinating that his many enemies (from Robert F. Kennedy to Ethel Rosenberg, a convicted Communist spy he sent to the electric chair) are haunting him. It concerns aspects of Cohn's life such as his closeted homosexuality and the measure of his culpability in the "Red Scare" of the 1950s. While the movie portrays Cohn in a decidedly unsympathetic light, it also depicts episodes in his life, such as the death of his beloved mother, in which he showed a more humane, compassionate side.

## Cast

* James Woods as Roy Cohn
* Joe Don Baker as Senator Joseph McCarthy
* Joseph Bologna as Walter Winchell
* Ed Flanders as Joseph N. Welch
* Jeffrey Nordling as G. David Schine
* Frederic Forrest as Dashiell Hammett
* Lee Grant as Dora Cohn
* Pat Hingle as J. Edgar Hoover
* John McMartin as 'Older Doctor'
* Karen Ludwig as Ethel Rosenberg
* Josef Sommer as Albert C. Cohn
* Daniel Benzali as Cardinal Francis Spellman
* Tovah Feldshuh as Iva Schlesinger
* John Finn as Senator Charles Potter
* Fritz Weaver as Senator Everett Dirksen
* Frances Foster as 'First Annie Lee Moss'
* Novella Nelson as 'Second Annie Lee Moss'
* Allen Garfield as Abe Feller
* David Marshall Grant as Robert F. Kennedy
* Daniel von Bargen as Clyde Tolson
* Lester Hoffman as Executioner #1

## Score

Thomas Newman composed the largely minimalist film score.

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominee(s) | Result |
| 1992 | Peabody Awards | Peabody Awards | Home Box Office | Won |
| 1993 | American Cinema Editors Awards | Best Edited Television Special | Peter Zinner | Won |
| 1993 | American Society of Cinematographers Awards | Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in a Movie of the Week or Pilot | Paul Elliott | Nominated |
| 1993 | Artios Awards | Best Casting for TV Movie of the Week | Mary Colquhoun | Won |
| 1993 | CableACE Awards | Movie or Miniseries | Mark Rosenberg, Paula Weinstein, Doro Bachrach, Frank Pierson, and David Franzoni | Won |
| 1993 | CableACE Awards | Actor in a Movie or Miniseries | James Woods | Nominated |
| 1993 | CableACE Awards | Directing for a Movie or Miniseries | Frank Pierson | Won |
| 1993 | CableACE Awards | Writing a Movie or Miniseries | David Franzoni | Nominated |
| 1993 | CableACE Awards | Art Direction in a Dramatic Special or Series/Theatrical Special/Movie or Miniseries | Gary Kosko | Nominated |
| 1993 | CableACE Awards | Direction of Photography and/or Lighting Direction in a Dramatic or Theatrical Special/Movie or Miniseries | Paul Elliott | Nominated |
| 1993 | CableACE Awards | Editing a Dramatic Special or Series/Theatrical Special/Movie or Mini-Series | Peter Zinner | Nominated |
| 1993 | CableACE Awards | Make-Up | Deborah La Mia Denaver and Matthew W. Mungle | Nominated |
| 1993 | Directors Guild of America Awards | Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials | Frank Pierson | Nominated |
| 1993 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | Nominated |
| 1993 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television | James Woods | Nominated |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Made for Television Movie | Mark Rosenberg, Paula Weinstein, Linda Gottlieb, and Doro Bachrach | Nominated |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Special | James Woods | Nominated |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special | Lee Grant | Nominated |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement in Directing for a Miniseries or a Special | Frank Pierson | Nominated |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Miniseries or a Special | David Franzoni | Nominated |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement in Art Direction for a Miniseries or a Special | Stephen Marsh, Gary Kosko, and Diana Stoughton | Nominated |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement in Casting for a Miniseries or a Special | Mary Colquhoun and Donna Belajac | Won |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement in Costume Design for a Miniseries or a Special | Jill M. Ohanneson | Nominated |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement in Editing for a Miniseries or a Special – Single Camera Production | Peter Zinner | Won |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement in Hairstyling for a Miniseries or a Special | Mona Orr | Nominated |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Individual Achievement in Makeup for a Miniseries or a Special | Lynne K. Eagan, Matthew W. Mungle, John E. Jackson, and Deborah La Mia Denaver | Won |
| 1993 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Miniseries or a Special | John Pritchett, Dan Wallin, Anna Behlmer, and Richard Portman | Nominated |