SPY Museum: Spies & Spymasters Virtual Happy Hour Recording

Spies & Spymasters Virtual Happy Hour Jonna Mendez Recodring

[Video recording] We love sorting out fact and fiction in spy movies at the Spy Museum. But how about when Hollywood stars are the spies? Join us tonight for some unusual celebrity gossip at this virtual happy hour! We’ll tell you some of our favorite stories about operatives who loved the limelight more than the shadows—your mission: shake up the perfect cocktail or mocktail.

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Atlas Obscura: Meet a Former CIA Chief of Disguise

Atlas Obscura Jonna Mendez

Meet Jonna Mendez, the former CIA Chief of Disguise (a real job!). During her tenure, Mendez oversaw the equipment used by spies to conceal their identities, including a five-second mask, which had been inspired by Hollywood. The technology, developed over a period of 10 years, allowed for facial movement—and, unlike its cinematic counterparts, which required hours in the makeup chair, it could be put on and removed at a moment’s notice. Listen to Mendez explain the ins and outs of this unique piece of spy technology.

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Spy Wars with Damian Lewis: EPISODE 5 – Escape from Tehran

Spy Wars with Damian Lewis Show

In November 1979, 53 American employees of the U.S. Embassy in Iran were taken hostage by Islamic revolutionaries. Six diplomats managed to escape, but getting out of the country seemed impossible. Enter CIA officer Tony Mendez, who used inspiration from Hollywood to school six frightened diplomats in the art of assuming false identities and pulled off a bold rescue mission during one of the darkest moments in American foreign policy history.

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TEDx Bermuda – The life and death theatre of espionage

Jonna Mendez presenting at TEDx Bermuda

As a retired CIA intelligence officer with 27 years of service, her career comprised of multiple under cover assignments. She joined the CIA’s Office of Technical Service (OTS) in early 1970, (often compared to “Q” Branch in the 007 movies), holding the position of Chief of Disguise. She also worked closely with her husband in writing Argo and Moscow Rules. Jonna is a founding board member at the International Spy Museum.

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PBS News Hour – Meet the CIA’s disguise artists who helped Cold War spies disappear

PBS News Hour Jonna Mendez Meet the CIA’s disguise artists who helped Cold War spies disappear

Legendary spy power couple Jonna and Tony Mendez met while working for the CIA in the Soviet Union, building the tools of espionage: the disguise kit, the camera that could hide anywhere, the cyanide pen. There they followed guidelines they called the “Moscow Rules” — now the name of a new book they co-wrote before Tony’s death. Jonna Mendez talks with Nick Schifrin about their work and mission.

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