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.

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.

Thomas Newman composed the largely minimalist film score.

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