Former Canadian ambassador to Iran, who sheltered Americans during 1979 hostage crisis, dies after two-month cancer battle

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Ken Taylor, Canada’s ambassador to Iran who sheltered Americans at his residence during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, has died aged 81.

Taylor’s wife, Pat, said Ken died on Thursday after a two-month battle with colon cancer.

Taylor kept the Americans hidden at his residence and at the home of his deputy, John Sheardown, in Tehran for three months. Taylor facilitated their escape by arranging plane tickets and persuading the Canadian government to issue fake passports.

Born in 1934 in Calgary, Taylor was heralded as a hero for helping save the Americans – a clandestine operation that had the full support of the then Canadian prime minister Joe Clark’s government. In a posting on Twitter, Clark called Taylor a Canadian hero and a valued friend.

Some of Taylor’s exploits in Iran in 1979 became the subject of the 2012 Hollywood film Argo, which won the Academy Award for best picture. Taylor and others felt the film underplayed the role he and Canada played.

Taylor’s wife said he was diagnosed with cancer in August and friends from Canada, the US and elsewhere had visited him at New York Presbyterian hospital where he was being treated.

She said Taylor’s legacy is his generosity. “He did all sorts of things for everyone without any expectation of something coming back,” she told the Associated Press.

“It’s why that incident in Iran happened,” she said. “There was no second thought about it. He just went ahead and did it. His legacy is that giving is what is important, not receiving. With all his friends that’s what he did.”