Tony Mendez, who spent years as a CIA operative and was portrayed by actor Ben Affleck in the hit movie “Argo,” has died. He was 78.
His wife Jonna, herself a former CIA officer, confirmed that Mendez died Saturday at an assisted-living center in Frederick, Md. He had suffered from Parkinson’s disease.
For 25 years he worked under cover, often overseas, participating in shadow conflicts in some of the most important theaters of the Cold War, he recounted in his autobiography The Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA.
His book chronicled many covert action and human intelligence collection operations, including the famed mission in which he and other agents disguised themselves as a Canadian film crew to free American diplomats taken during the Iranian hostage crisis in 1980.
Mendez was born in 1940 in Eureka, Nev., and joined the CIA in 1965. Affleck tweeted about Mendez’s death:
Tony Mendez was a true American hero. He was a man of extraordinary grace, decency, humility and kindness. He never sought the spotlight for his actions, he merely sought to serve his country. I’m so proud to have worked for him and to have told one of his stories. #RIPTonyMendez
— Ben Affleck (@BenAffleck) January 20, 2019
“Tony Mendez was a true American hero,” Affleck said. “He was a man of extraordinary grace, decency, humility and kindness. He never sought the spotlight for his actions, he merely sought to serve his country. I’m so proud to have worked for him and to have told one of his stories.”
Mendez will be buried at a private cemetery in Nevada.
