Zena Kahn Sheardown CM[1] is a Guyanese-Canadian woman,[2] who together with her husband John Sheardown, sheltered six Americans in their home for months during the Iran Hostage Crisis, in what has come to be known as "the Canadian Caper".
In 1980, Sheardown's husband was appointed to the Order of Canada for his role in the Canadian Caper; Sheardown was ineligible for appointment because she was not a Canadian citizen.
[2] By 1986, Sheardown had become a naturalized Canadian, and her honorary appointment was terminated, in exchange for an appointment as a full member.
[3] John and Zena Sheardown were portrayed in the 1981 Canadian-American television movie Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper by Chris Wiggins and Diana Barrington, respectively.
After the big-budget Hollywood movie Argo about the Canadian Caper was released in 2012, director Ben Affleck called to personally apologize to the Sheardowns for having to leave them out due to plot and time constraints,[4] stating in a later interview, "It really did break my heart a bit.