Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn offers an unflinching look at the infamous attorney who prosecuted Ivy Meeropol’s grandparents, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, and later argued persuasively for their execution in what became known as the “atomic spies” case.
Directed by Ivy Meeropol, the film examines Cohn’s life as chief counsel to Senator Joseph McCarthy in the late 1950s and then through the 1980s when he became a darling of the Reagan White House, a rabid anti-homosexuality activist and political mentor to Donald J. Trump before dying from AIDS in 1986.
The film draws from extensive, newly unearthed archival material, recorded at the height of Cohn’s career as a power broker in the rough and tumble world of New York City business and politics.
Join Bully. Coward. Victim. filmmaker Ivy Meeropol and her father Michael Meeropol for a virtual conversation about the film and their unique perspective on Roy Cohn's legacy.
Highlights From Bully. Coward. Victim.
Iconic filmmaker John Waters talks bluntly about Roy Cohn's behavior that he once witnessed in Provincetown.
Michael Meeropol tells his daughter Ivy about how he came to understand Roy Cohn's role in his parents' execution.
Journalist Peter Manso recalls an interview with Cohn in which he made his views on losing clear.
Michael Meeropol visits Sing Sing prison and remembers the last day he spent there with his parents.
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