Roy Cohn (1927–1986) was a powerful American lawyer and conservative activist who first rose to national fame as the prosecutor of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg (leading to their 1953 execution) and as Senator Joseph McCarthy's chief counsel during the 1954 Army–McCarthy hearings. Born into an affluent Jewish family in the Bronx and a Columbia Law School graduate at just 20, Cohn later reinvented himself as a notorious legal and political fixer in New York City, where he represented and mentored a young Donald Trump. Despite his early success, his reputation deteriorated as he took on clients ranging from real estate magnates to organized crime figures. In 1986, he was disbarred by the New York State Supreme Court for unethical conduct after attempting to defraud a dying client, and he died just five weeks later from AIDS-related complications—vehemently denying he was HIV-positive. His life and career have been the subject of numerous media portrayals, reflecting his complex legacy as a brilliant but ruthless figure in American law and politics.