The former ambassador to Iran passed away on Thursday (15Oct15) aged 81, following a two-month fight with colon cancer, his wife Pat tells The Hollywood Reporter.

Taylor was considered a hero in both the U.S. and his native Canada in 1979, when he sheltered Americans at his residence in Tehran for three months during the Iran hostage crisis.

He helped facilitate their escape by acquiring fake Canadian passports for the six Americans, as they pretended to be Canadian filmmakers scouting shooting locations in Iran.

In 1980, Taylor was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and he was later awarded the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal of Honor in recognition for his valiant efforts.

Garber, along with his fellow castmates, won the 2013 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, and director and star Ben Affleck went on to accept the prize for Best Picture at the Oscars a few months later.