''Blind Ambition'' is a four-part American miniseries that aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

from May 20, 1979 to May 23, 1979 focusing on the Watergate coverup and based on the memoirs of former

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

counsel

John Dean John Wesley Dean III (born October 14, 1938) is an American former attorney who served as White House Counsel for U.S. President Richard Nixon from July 1970 until April 1973. Dean is known for his role in the cover-up of the Watergate scandal ...

and his wife Maureen. Producer Renee Valente earned an Emmy nomination for the series. Part I ranked as the 15th most-watched show for the week of May 14–20, 1979,(23 May 1979
TV Ratings
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' and Parts IV, II, and III, respectively, ranked as the 11th-13th most watched primetime shows of the following week.(31 May 1979)
TV Ratings
''

Cast

Martin Sheen Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), known professionally as Martin Sheen, is an American actor. He first became known for his roles in the films ''The Subject Was Roses'' (1968) and ''Badlands'' (1973), and later achieved wid ...

as John Dean, Nixon White House counsel and coordinator of the Watergate cover-up turned star witness * Rip Torn as President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

Theresa Russell Theresa Lynn Russell ( Paup; born March 20, 1957) is an American actress whose career spans over four decades. Her filmography includes over fifty feature films, ranging from mainstream to independent and experimental films. Born in San Diego, ...

as Maureen Dean *

William Daniels William David Daniels (born March 31, 1927) is an American actor, who is best known for his television roles, notably as Mark Craig in the drama series '' St. Elsewhere'', for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards; the voice of KITT in the t ...

as G. Gordon Liddy, former FBI agent, one of the head

White House Plumbers The White House Plumbers, sometimes simply called the Plumbers, the Room 16 Project, or more officially, the White House Special Investigations Unit, was a covert White House Special Investigations Unit, established within a week after the public ...

and one of the

Watergate Seven The Watergate Seven has come to refer to two different groups of people, both of them in the context of the Watergate scandal. Firstly, it can refer to the five men caught on June 17, 1972, burglarizing the Democratic National Committee's headqu ...

Graham Jarvis Graham Powley Jarvis (August 25, 1930 – April 16, 2003) was a Canadian character actor in American films and television from the 1960s to the early 2000s. Early years Jarvis was born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of Margaret Biddulph (Scratche ...

John Ehrlichman John Daniel Ehrlichman (; March 20, 1925 – February 14, 1999) was an American political aide who served as the White House Counsel and Assistant to the President for Domestic Affairs under President Richard Nixon. Ehrlichman was an important i ...

, Nixon chief domestic advisor * John Randolph as John Mitchell, former Attorney General *

Lawrence Pressman Lawrence Pressman (born David M. Pressman; July 10, 1939) is an American actor, probably best known for roles on '' Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Ladies' Man'', a recurring role on '' Profiler'', the title character on '' Mulligan's Stew'' and as a ...

as H.R. "Bob" Haldeman, Nixon White House Chief of Staff *

Ed Flanders Edward Paul Flanders (December 29, 1934 – February 22, 1995) was an American actor. He is best known for playing Dr. Donald Westphall in the medical drama series ''St. Elsewhere'' (1982–1988). Flanders was nominated for eight Primetime Emm ...

as Charlie Shaffer, Dean's lawyer *

Peter Mark Richman Peter Mark Richman (born Marvin Jack Richman; April 16, 1927 – January 14, 2021) was an American actor in films and on television, who was for many years credited as Mark Richman. He appeared in about 30 films and 130 television series from th ...

Robert Mardian Robert Charles Mardian (October 23, 1923 – July 17, 2006) was a United States Republican party official who served in the administration of Richard Nixon, and was embroiled in the Watergate scandal as one of the Watergate Seven who were indicte ...

, political CRP coordinator *

James Sloyan James Joseph Sloyan (born February 24, 1940 in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an American actor. Early years Sloyan left the United States at an early age to live abroad in Rome, Capri, Milan, Switzerland, and Ireland. His career in show busines ...

Ronald Ziegler Ronald Louis Ziegler (May 12, 1939 – February 10, 2003) was the 13th White House Press Secretary and Assistant to the President, serving during United States President Richard Nixon's administration. Early life Ziegler was born to Louis Daniel ...

, Nixon White House press secretary *

William Windom William Windom (May 10, 1827January 29, 1891) was an American politician from Minnesota. He served as U.S. Representative from 1859 to 1869, and as U.S. Senator from 1870 to January 1871, from March 1871 to March 1881, and from November 1881 ...

Richard Kleindienst Richard Gordon Kleindienst (August 5, 1923 – February 3, 2000) was an American lawyer, politician, and U.S. Attorney General during the early stages of Watergate political scandal. Early life and career Kleindienst was born August 5, 1923, in ...

, Attorney General succeeding Mitchell * Lonny Chapman as L. Patrick Gray, acting FBI director *

Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born February 5, 1948) is an American-British screenwriter, composer, musician, director, actor, and comedian. Guest is most widely known in Hollywood for having written, directed, and starred in ...

Jeb Stuart Magruder Jeb Stuart Magruder (November 5, 1934May 11, 2014) was an American businessman and high-level political operative in the Republican Party who served time in prison for his role in the Watergate scandal. He served President Richard Nixon in var ...

, CRP coordinator turned witness *

James Karen James Karen (born Jacob Karnofsky; November 28, 1923 – October 23, 2018) was an American character actor of Broadway, film and television. Karen is known for his roles in ''Poltergeist'', ''The China Syndrome'', ''Wall Street'', ''The Return ...

as Earl Silbert, federal prosecutor *

Kip Niven Clifford Wallace "Kip" Niven (May 27, 1945 – May 6, 2019) was an American actor and theatre director. Early life Niven was born in Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City and grew up in Prairie Village, Kansas, the son of William Watson Niven and ...

as Egil "Bud" Krogh, Nixon executive assistant who worked with the White House Plumbers *

Michael Callan Michael Callan (born Martin Harris Calinieff; November 22, 1935 – October 10, 2022) was an American actor best known for originating the role of Riff in ''West Side Story'' on Broadway, and for his film roles for Columbia Pictures, notably ' ...

Charles Colson Charles Wendell Colson (October 16, 1931 – April 21, 2012), generally referred to as Chuck Colson, was an American attorney and political advisor who served as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon from 1969 to 1970. Once known as P ...

, Nixon White House counsel preceding Dean *

David Sheiner David S. Sheiner (born January 13, 1928) is an American actor. He appeared on Broadway, but is best known for his supporting roles in several films and television series. He started his career in television in 1952, but he was most successful f ...

Samuel Dash Samuel Dash (February 27, 1925 – May 29, 2004) was an American lawyer. He was chief counsel for the Senate Watergate Committee during the Watergate scandal. Dash became famous for his televised interrogations during the hearings held by the ...

, Georgetown law professor and chief counsel to the

Senate Watergate Committee The Senate Watergate Committee, known officially as the Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities, was a special committee established by the United States Senate, , in 1973, to investigate the Watergate scandal, with the power to inv ...

References

External links

* 1979 television films 1979 films 1970s American television miniseries CBS network films American biographical series Works about the Watergate scandal Films set in Washington, D.C. 1979 American television series debuts 1979 American television series endings Films directed by George Schaefer Watergate scandal in film 1970s American films {{US-nonfiction-tv-prog-stub