American lawyer and political agitator Roy Cohn was BOTD in 1927. Born in New York to an affluent Jewish family, he had an unhappy childhood with a Freudian nightmare of a mother, with whom he lived for most of his adult life. He studied law at Columbia University, after which he worked in the US Attorney’s office. He came to prominence as Senator Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel, assisting him in the investigation of suspected Communists. He was also a leading advocate in the Lavender Scare, leading to a national ban on homosexuals in the civil service. In 1953, he was chief prosecutor in the trial of suspected spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, reportedly convincing the trial judge to impose the death penalty on both prisoners, despite doubt’s about Ethel’s involvement. Her execution by electric chair, which left their two young sons orphaned, prompted international outrage. After McCarthy’s downfall, Cohn resumed his legal career, representing magnates Aristotle Onassis, Richard Dupont, Rupert Murdoch and various Mafia dons. He was also a mentor and adviser to the young Donald Trump, helping grow his real estate empire and fostering his relationship with Murdoch. A lifelong bachelor, he denied his homosexuality in public but had a number of boyfriends, including his assistant Russell Eldridge (until his death from AIDS in 1984) and Peter Fraser. An early adopter of plastic surgery and orange Permatans, he was was a fixture on the social scene of 1970s New York, partying at nightclub Studio 54 alongside Andy Warhol, Steve Rubell, Halston and Calvin Klein. He was disbarred in 1986, following repeated accusations of theft, obstruction, extortion, tax evasion, bribery, blackmail, fraud, perjury, and witness tampering. He died five weeks later from an AIDS-related illness, denying his sexuality and HIV status until the end. He is a central character in Tony Kushner’s epic play Angels in America, which imagines Cohn being haunted by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg as he dies in hospital, and described elsewhere as “the polestar of human evil”. He has been portrayed many times onscreen, notably by Al Pacino in the 2004 TV film of Angels in America and by Jeremy Strong in the 2024 Trump biopic The Apprentice.