Former Canadian ambassador to Iran Ken Taylor has died. He was 81 years old.

The Calgary-born diplomat was most famous for his role in the 1979 covert operation called the “Canadian Caper,” when he sheltered six Americans who escaped capture when a mob of Iranians stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and took most people inside hostage in November 1979.

With the co-operation of the CIA, Taylor helped the six get Canadian passports to deceive the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and escape the country.

His actions during the hostage crisis were portrayed in two movies, most recently in Ben Affleck’s 2012 movie Argo.

In a statement, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said that Taylor “valiantly risked his own life by shielding a group of American diplomats from capture.

“Ken Taylor represented the very best that Canada’s foreign service has to offer.”

Taylor’s son, Douglas Taylor, told CBC News in an interview from New York that it was a “sad day but a great life to celebrate.”

He said when his father was asked about the Iran hostage crisis, “he always liked to say that anybody else would have done exactly what he had done.”

Picture credit CP24 Bell Media