Alumnus and Former Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor, MBA 59, Portrayed in New Ben Affleck Film

One of Haas' own played a major role in the real-life Iran hostage crisis that inspired the new Ben Affleck movie, "Argo," which has already generated buzz as the likely Best Picture winner in next year's Academy Awards.

Alumnus Ken Taylor, MBA 59, was the Canadian ambassador in Tehran in 1979, when Iranians stormed the American embassy and took hostages. Six embassy employees managed to flee to the streets and find shelter at Taylor's residence. Taylor is played by actor Victor Garber in the movie. Affleck plays CIA agent Tony Mendez, who comes up with the idea of disguising the Americans as Canadian members of a film crew making a fake science fiction movie called ”Argo."

Argo already has made the rounds of film festivals and will officially hit theaters Oct. 12. Affleck stars in and directed the film and co-produced it with George Clooney.

In response to concerns raised by Taylor and Canadians, Affleck changed the postscript of the film, which they said gave too little credit to Canada. The postscript now reads: "The involvement of the CIA complemented efforts of the Canadian embassy to free the six held in Tehran. To this day the story stands as an enduring model of international co-operation between governments.” 

Alumnus Ken Taylor with Actor/Director Ben Affleck
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