Peter Copley
Also Known As: Peter Francis Gabain Copley
Biography: Peter Copley (20 May 1915 – 7 October 2008) was an English television, film and stage actor. Copley was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, son of the printmakers, John Copley and Ethel Gabain. After changing his mind about joining the Royal Navy, he studied at the Old Vic School and started out as a stage actor in 1932. He made his first film appearance in 1934, going on to play a wide variety of characters from the villainous to the meek and mild. In 1946, he appeared on stage in "Cyrano de Bergerac" at the New Theatre in London. In 1951 he appeared at the Duchess Theatre in London's West End in the comedy play The Happy Family by Michael Clayton Hutton. TV credits include: Thorndyke, Danger Man, The Saint, The Avengers, The Forsyte Saga, The Troubleshooters, The Champions, Department S, Doomwatch, Z-Cars, Fall of Eagles, Survivors, Bless Me, Father (episode "A Legend Comes to Stay"), Father Brown (episode "The Curse of the Golden Cross"), Doctor Who (in the serial "Pyramids of Mars"), Sutherland's Law, Tales of the Unexpected, Miss Marple (episode "Nemesis"), Lovejoy, The Bill, Cadfael, The Diamond Brothers: South by South East and One Foot in the Grave. Copley continued to act well into his nineties. A resident of Bristol, Copley was awarded an Honorary Degree of Master of Arts by the University of the West of England in 2001.
Department: Acting
Place of Birth: Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Adult: No
Birthday: May 20, 1915
Age: 110 years old
Gender: Male
Deathday: October 07, 2008
Popularity:
Known For:
Riot at the Rite
Overview: In the spring of 1913, Parisian businessman Gabriel Astruc opens a new theater on the Champs Elysées. The first performance is the premiere of Igor Stravinsky's 'The Rite of Spring', danced by the Ballet Russes. The rehearsal process is extremely fraught: the orchestra dislike Stravinsky's harsh, atonal music; the dancers dislike the 'ugly' choreography of Vaslav Nijinsky. The volatile, bisexual Nijinsky is in a strained relationship with the much older Sergei Diaghilev, the Ballet Russes' charismatic but manipulative impresario. Public expectation is extremely high after Nijinsky's success in 'L'apres-midi d'un faune'. Finally, 'The Rite of Spring' premieres to a gossip-loving, febrile, fashion-conscious Parisian audience sharply divided as to its merits.
Genres: Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2005-10-18
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The July Plot
Overview: Dramatisation of the failed plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler in July 1944 by a conspiracy of high-ranking German Army officers.
Genres: TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1964-12-09
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Quatermass and the Pit
Overview: A mysterious artifact unearthed below a London subway station proves to have powerful psychic effects on the people around.
Genres: Science Fiction Horror Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1967-11-09
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The Knack... and How to Get It
Overview: A nebbish schoolteacher begs his smooth (and misogynistic) pal to teach him 'the knack' – how to score with women. Serendipitously, the men meet up with a new girl in town, as well as a friendly lunatic who can’t help but paint things white.
Genres: Comedy Romance
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-06-03
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Just My Luck
Overview: Norman works in a jewellers workshop and fantasises (in the nicest way) about meeting the window dresser across the road from his workshop. He wants to buy her a diamond pendant but calculates it will take him over 100 years to save up for it. He is talked into betting a pound on a six horse accumulator at the Goodwood races with a slightly shady bookmaker. When he has won on the first five races, the bookie owes him over 16,000 pounds and everyone begins to worry. Everyone's future depends on a single race ... what can be done ?
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-11-14
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Androcles and the Lion
Overview: Shaw used the traditional fable of Andocles to focus on the integrity of religious belief. Androcles, a christian fleeing persecution in Rome, is captured by Caesar's men. Alongside other christians - Ferrovius, a fierce fighter, Lavinia, a beautiful aristocrat and would-be martyr Spintho - he must face the lions of the Coliseum. How will each of them face their desperate fate?
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1984-06-12
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The Sword and the Rose
Overview: Tells the story of Mary Tudor and her troubled path to true love. Henry VIII, for political reasons, determines to wed her to the King of France. She tries to flee to America with her love but is captured when she is "un-hatted" on board ship. In return for her consent to the marriage with France, Henry agrees to let her choose her second husband. When King Louis of France dies, Mary is kidnaped by the Duke of Buckingham. He tries to force her to marry him but she is rescued by her love in an exciting battle on the beach.
Genres: Adventure Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-07-23
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Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
Overview: Blackmailing a young couple to assist with his horrific experiments the Baron, desperate for vital medical data, abducts a man from an insane asylum. On route the abductee dies and the Baron and his assistant transplant his brain into a corpse. The creature is tormented by a trapped soul in an alien shell and, after a visit to his wife who violently rejects his monstrous form, the creature wreaks his revenge on the perpetrator of his misery: Baron Frankenstein.
Genres: Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1969-05-22
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What Became of Jack and Jill?
Overview: Two young people plot to get their hands on grannie's money, but rather than simply pushing her down the stairs they hatch an elaborate plot to convince her that radical youth have taken over England are planning to do away with "oldies" like her.
Genres: Thriller Horror Mystery
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-06-16
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King and Country
Overview: During World War I, Army Private Arthur James Hamp is accused of desertion during battle. The officer assigned to defend him at his court-martial, Captain Hargreaves, finds out there is more to the case than meets the eye.
Genres: War Drama History
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1964-09-05
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Golden Salamander
Overview: An archaeologist stumbles into the territory of an evil crime syndicate and struggles to set things right.
Genres: Crime Drama Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1950-02-01
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The Smallest Show on Earth
Overview: Jean and Bill are a married couple trying to scrape a living. Out of the blue they receive a telegram informing them Bill's long-lost uncle has died and left them his business—a cinema in the town of Sloughborough. Unfortunately they can't sell it for the fortune they hoped as they discover it is falling down and almost worthless.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-04-09
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The Trial of Klaus Barbie
Overview: Decades after the end of World War II, escaped war criminal Klaus Barbie is brought to justice.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1987-07-15
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Empire of the Sun
Overview: Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.
Genres: Drama History War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1987-12-09
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King of the Ghetto
Overview: An idealistic former soldier helps unite and house ethnic minorities in a run down area of London's east end
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1986-05-01
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Tell Me If It Hurts
Overview: A short comedy about dentistry by the doctor and (at this point) amateur film-maker Richard Massingham.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1934-12-31
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Don't Utter a Note
Overview: Two well meaning spinsters' plans in reforming an old jailbird, receive a set back, when unexpectedly into their possession comes a substantial amount of money, which was not made by the Royal Mint.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1966-04-09
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Beyond Our Means
Overview: A couple invite an old school friend for a reunion dinner, it is during the conversation (with the friend now an eminent surgeon) the couple come to the stark realization that their son is showing symptoms of a looming brain tumour.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-09-18
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A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia
Overview: In 1919, the great English military man T. E. Lawrence tries to help Emir Feisal, ruler of Arabia, retain his political power during the Conference of Peace in Paris.
Genres: Drama History TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1992-04-18
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Stranger in the Family
Overview: A boy is skilled at telepathy and in mind control. He attracts the attention of the government.
Genres: TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-10-18
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Tower of London: The Innocent
Overview: The story of the Earl of Warwick and Perkin Warbeck, during the reign of King Henry VII.
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1969-07-31
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Walk a Crooked Path
Overview: Set in an exclusive boy's school, about a man who plans to kill off his wealthy teacher wife by encouraging her to drink and pushing her into suicide. To assist him he recruits a young student who will claim that he was sexually assaulted by her. (from: http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/390627)
Genres: Drama Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1969-08-31
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Mystery in the Mine
Overview: Jane and Tom set out on an adventure in which they must keep the corrupt Grimblatt from locating the K-13 fuel for his evil space mirror.
Genres: Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1959-09-01
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Saadia
Overview: Saadia is a wild, strange Arab girl whose life has been dominated by a local sorceress, a vengeful outcast in the community, who has convinced her she has the "evil eye" and brings disaster to all who love her. French doctor Henrik takes her to his clinic, for rehabilitation purposes, and falls in love with her as does his friend, Si Lahssen, the reigning prince of this small Moroccan state. When a plague falls on the town, Saadia is convinced she is responsible, and rides alone into the mountain country to retrieve the plague serum being held for ransom by bandits. The love triangle dominates most of the rest of the film.
Genres: Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-12-01
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Farewell Again
Overview: Farewell Again is a multiplotted British comedy/drama about soldiers on leave and the people they've left. Given a six-hour pass after a tour of duty in India, several British Tommies (among them Robert Newton, Sebastian Shaw and Anthony Bushell) try to unravel their domestic tribulations before having to ship out again. American expatriate Tim Whelan was the directorial hand who kept the various plot threads from entangling, while another Hollywood vet, James Wong Howe, manned the cameras. The film became instantly dated with the advent of World War II, but in its own time Farewell Again was a box-office smash. The film was issued in the US as Troopship.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1937-01-05
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Hennessy
Overview: Former Irish Republican Army member Niall Hennessy lives in Belfast, Ireland, with his wife and daughter amid the ongoing Irish-British conflict. Though he still knows people in the IRA, including fugitive leader Tobin, Niall has given up his violent ways. One day his family is caught in a chaotic street shootout and killed by British forces. Overwhelmed with rage and hunted by a Scotland Yard inspector, Niall heads to London to exact his deadly revenge.
Genres: Thriller Drama Action
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1975-12-31
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Oliver Twist
Overview: An adaptation of the classic Dickens tale, where an orphan meets a pickpocket on the streets of London. From there, he joins a household of boys who are trained to steal for their master.
Genres: Crime Drama Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2005-09-23
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Doctor Who: Pyramids of Mars
Overview: In a Victorian Gothic mansion, strange things are afoot. The master of the house, away in Egypt, has been replaced by a sinister Egyptian. Cloth-wrapped Mummies roam the grounds, killing people. Beneath a pyramid, the last of the Osirans — Sutekh the Destroyer — waits to be freed, to at long last bring his gift of death to all who live.
Genres: Science Fiction Drama Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1975-11-15
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The Card
Overview: A charming and ambitious young man finds many ways to raise himself through the ranks in business and social standing - some honest, some not quite so. If he can just manage to avoid a certain very predatory woman.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1952-02-25
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Shout at the Devil
Overview: During World War One an English adventurer, an American elephant poacher and the latter's attractive young daughter, set out to destroy a German battle-cruiser which is awaiting repairs in an inlet just off Zanzibar. The story is based on a novel by Wilbur Smith, which in turn is very loosely based on events involving the light cruiser SMS Königsberg, which was sunk after taking refuge in Rufigi delta in 1915.
Genres: Adventure War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1976-04-12
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Mosquito Squadron
Overview: England, World War II. Quint Munroe, RAF officer and new leader of a Mosquito squadron, is tasked with destroying a secret Nazi base in France while trying to overcome the disappearance of a brother-in-arms.
Genres: Drama Romance War
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1969-08-22
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Janice Beard 45 WPM
Overview: Janice Beard is a dreamer who can't seem to quite make it big. She is working in an auto design company and falls for the mailboy, but he is hiding secrets.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1999-10-29
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The Man Without a Body
Overview: A wealthy business man discovers he has a brain tumor and seeks medical help. The business man finds a scientist experimenting with transplanting monkey heads on different monkey bodies. The business man decides to steal the head of Nostradamus from the prophet's crypt.
Genres: Horror Science Fiction
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-05-01
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Churchill and the Generals
Overview: The complicated relationship between Winston Churchill and the leaders of the British army during World War II.
Genres: Drama History War TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1979-09-23
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Gawain and the Green Knight
Overview: The medieval legend of a supernatural knight who challenges the king's men to kill him.
Genres: Fantasy Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1973-06-01
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United Kingdom
Overview: Incendiary 1981 Play for Today, written by Jim Allen and directed by Roland Joffé that tells the story of a group of housing estate residents who attempt to organise against persistent rent rises.
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1981-12-08
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Foreign Intrigue
Overview: Millionaire Victor Danemore, living on the French Riviera, dies suddenly of a heart attack. His secretary, Dave Bishop, wants to know more about his employer's life. Surprisingly, not even his young wife knows anything about her husband's background or how he earned his fortune. Clues lead Bishop to Vienna and Stockholm, where he learns that Danemore was blackmailing people who cooperated with the Nazis during World War II.
Genres: Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-06-28
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The Shoes of the Fisherman
Overview: Ukrainian bishop Kiril Lakota, a political prisoner in a Soviet gulag for twenty years, is unexpectedly released and sent to the Vatican, where, upon the sudden death of the Pope, leader of the Catholic Church, he must face a challenging destiny that will put the future of the entire world in his hands.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1968-11-14
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The Third Secret
Overview: A prominent London psychologist seems to have taken his own life, causing stunned disbelief amongst his colleagues and patients. His teenage daughter refuses to believe it was suicide as this would go against all of the principles her father stood for, therefore she is convinced it was murder. She enlists the help of a former patient to try to get to the truth. However, the truth turns out to be both surprising and disturbing.
Genres: Mystery Thriller Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1964-02-02
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The Black Panther
Overview: A gung-ho ex-military man pursues a secret life of crime, culminating in the kidnapping of a teenage heiress.
Genres: Crime Drama Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1977-12-26
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Little Lord Fauntleroy
Overview: Young Cedric Errol and his widowed mother live in genteel poverty in 1880s Brooklyn after the death of his father. Cedric's grandfather, the Earl of Dorincourt, has long ago disowned his son for marrying an American. But after the death of the Earl's remaining son, he decides to accept Cedric as his heir.
Genres: TV Movie Family Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1980-12-01
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Help!
Overview: An obscure Eastern cult that practices human sacrifice pursues Ringo after he unknowingly puts on a ceremonial ring (that, of course, won't come off). On top of that, a pair of mad scientists, members of Scotland Yard, and a beautiful but dead-eyed assassin all have their own plans for the Fab Four.
Genres: Comedy Music Adventure
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1965-07-29
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The Hour of 13
Overview: 1890, London, and a serial killer known as The Terror is murdering policemen. When gentleman thief Nicholas Revel unwittingly becomes the chief suspect, he must use his guile and wits to prove he’s not the killer; whilst also not getting caught for a jewel robbery he has just committed.
Genres: Crime
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1952-11-21
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Jane Eyre
Overview: After a bleak childhood, Jane Eyre goes out into the world to become a governess. As she lives happily in her new position at Thornfield Hall, she meet the dark, cold, and abrupt master of the house, Mr. Rochester. Jane and her employer grow close in friendship and she soon finds herself falling in love with him. Happiness seems to have found Jane at last, but could Mr. Rochester's terrible secret be about to destroy it forever?
Genres: Drama TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1970-12-01
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Rockets Galore
Overview: The inhabitants of Todday are content to live their lives in peace and quiet, until, that is, the government decides their little corner of the world would be the perfect place for a rocket launch site.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1958-10-19
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Time Without Pity
Overview: Alec Graham is sentenced to death for the murder of his girlfriend Jennie, with whom he spent a weekend at the English country home of the parents of his friend Brian Stanford. Alec’s father, David Graham, a not-so-successful writer and alcoholic who has neglected his son in the past, flies in from Canada to visit his son on death row. David then goes on a quest to try and clear his son’s name while battling “the bottle.”
Genres: Crime Thriller Mystery Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-03-21
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Victim
Overview: A web of blackmail and murder attracts the attention of a barrister with a seemingly idyllic life, threatening to derail his career on the path of success.
Genres: Drama Crime Thriller
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1961-08-01
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The Film That Never Was
Overview:
Genres: Documentary Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1957-01-02
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The Importance of Being Earnest
Overview: Filled with wit and wisdom, The Importance of Being Earnest tells the tale of Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff. Jack has invented an imaginary brother, Earnest, whom he uses as an excuse to escape from his dull home in the country and frolic in town. Algernon uses a similar technique, only in reverse: His imaginary friend, Bunbury, provides a convenient and frequent method of taking adventures in the country. However, their deceptions eventually cross paths, resulting in a series of crises that threaten to spoil their romantic pursuits; Jack of his love Gwendolen Fairfax, and Algernon of his belle Cecily Cardew.
Genres: Comedy Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1988-05-29
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Peril for the Guy
Overview: Story of a group of children's successful efforts to bring to book a gang of oil men intent on stealing valuable invention.
Genres: Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1956-01-01
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That's Your Funeral
Overview: Two funeral parlours fight one another for business, one of whom is more shady than the other.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1972-12-01
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The Clue of the Missing Ape
Overview: Story of how two youngsters round up crooks planning to blow up the British fleet off Gibraltar.
Genres: Family
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1953-11-01
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Rabbit Pie Day
Overview: As World War II draws to a close thousands of Russian soldiers overtaken by the Allied advance in Europe find themselves in England - and they like it. The major of one particular camp foresees problems should they have to go back; but as he says, 'They're only going home, after all!' - but home to what?
Genres: Drama History War TV Movie
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1980-11-10
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The Devil's Eggshell
Overview: The discovery of mysterious egg-shaped objects at the sites of a series of disasters lead people to believe that we are being attacked by alien beings, but it is revealed to be a conspiracy.
Genres: Drama
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1966-06-28
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