Former Canadian ambassador to Iran, Ken Taylor, who sheltered six Americans during 1979 Tehran hostage crisis, has died at the age of 81.

Taylor, who was diagnosed with colon cancer two months ago, died in a New York hospital on Thursday, family friend Ralph Lean told Canadian Press.

"He did all sorts of things for everyone without any expectation of something coming back," Taylor's wife Pat told Associated Press. "It's why that incident in Iran happened. 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."

Ken Taylor was Canada's man in Iran in 1979 when members of the Islamic Revolution had stormed the American embassy in Tehran and captured embassy staff. Taylor sheltered six American diplomats who managed to escape. The incident inspired the award-winning 2012 movie "Argo," starring Ben Affleck.

"Ambassador Taylor earned the enduring gratitude of the United States - and was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal - for his valor and ingenuity in harboring six American citizens trapped in Iran in the aftermath of the seizure of the American Embassy in Tehran on Nov. 4, 1979 and, ultimately, in securing their safe return," the U.S. embassy in Ottawa said in a condolence message.

Canadian Prime Minister Steven Harper issued a statement: "It is with sadness that I learned of the passing of Ken Taylor.

"As Canada's Ambassador to Iran during the Iranian Revolution, 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," Harper said in a statement. 

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