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Registered On: October 12, 2022Topics: 9Replies: 241Has thanked: 767 timesBeen thanked: 951 timesJust for a bit of fun, I would like to compile an A to Z list of famous crossdressers (members of CDH aside). I invite everyone to post a list of famous crossdressers that they know (please note why they are famous). I would especially be interested in historical crossdressers.
Here is a start from me
Boy George (Culture Club, UK singer)
Marilyn (UK singer)
Pete Burns (Dead or Alive, UK singer)
Eddie Izzard (British Comedian)
J Edgar Hoover (US President) – this is incorrect on 2 counts (neither the President nor a crossdresser – thanks Karla)
RuPaul (US TV presenter)
Paul Grady (aka Lily Savage, British comedian)
Dick Emery (British comedian)
Andrej Pejic (Australian model)
Barry Humphries (aka Dame Edna Everage, Australian comedian)Thanks in advance to everyone…
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Registered On: October 15, 2018Topics: 17Replies: 1196Has thanked: 923 timesBeen thanked: 5030 timesWhile only done for a joke (or perhaps a protest) for many years, I’m surprised no one mentioned Jamie Farr (Max Klinger on M*A*S*H).
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- Registered On: December 9, 2019Topics: 0Replies: 454Has thanked: 6517 timesBeen thanked: 1249 times
To the best of my memory, Klinger dressed as a women so that the army would kick him out as it was men only unless you were a nurse. Best, Marlene.
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- Registered On: October 15, 2018Topics: 17Replies: 1196Has thanked: 923 timesBeen thanked: 5030 times
Klinger dressed as a woman to try to prove he was crazy and therefore be sent home as a section 8. The show writers used it as a running gag for many years. I used the term protest as he was protesting being in the army and trying to get sent home by showing he was crazy. But it was sort of a catch-22 situation because he was sane enough to try to prove he was insane.
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- Registered On: August 4, 2020Topics: 13Replies: 200Has thanked: 2306 timesBeen thanked: 1109 times
Christopher Morley, who crossdrssed in the Alan Arkin flick” Freebie & the Bean” and many TV shows of the 1980s.Also featured in Playboy. Totally scrumptious
- Registered On: September 29, 2021Topics: 5Replies: 399Has thanked: 405 timesBeen thanked: 1573 times
I submit that Ru Paul is NOT a crossdresser. He is a performer. I wish drag queens were not seen to be crossdressers. Few are. Because they are so visible, often the only associations many can make with men who crossdress, they create the false impression that crossdressers are drag queens and most likely gay. This image does great harm to the broader community of crossdressers, who have no interest in performing en femme and certainly not driven by such a desire, nce and who are no more likely to be gay than those in the broader population. Associating crossdressing with drag and sexual preference is unfortunate, in my opinion. It causes many to misunderstand who we are, most importantly spouses and SOs who do not wish to be associated with a gay partner or with drag queens and are unjustly upset if they learn their partners are crossdressers. Sexual preference and dressing for performance have nothing to do with being a crossdresser. I realize that some crossdressers do dress for performance and might do drag, but I don’t believe there is a direct correlation between sexual preference, performance, and crossdressing.
Yes, Ru Paul, female impersonators, and others ARE crossdressing. No, that does not mean they are “crossdressers.”7 users thanked author for this post.
- Registered On: November 15, 2019Topics: 5Replies: 640Has thanked: 44 timesBeen thanked: 2139 times
Leonardo Da Vinci
- Registered On: October 6, 2019Topics: 8Replies: 111Has thanked: 835 timesBeen thanked: 516 times
Da Vinci? I didn’t know that. Could you please provide more details? (I have always been an admirer of Leonardo da Vinci since I first read about him at the age of twelve).
Love,
Katherine1 user thanked author for this post.
- Registered On: November 15, 2019Topics: 5Replies: 640Has thanked: 44 timesBeen thanked: 2139 times
read it a biography a few years back but the name has slipped my mind for now. something about buying dresses for his assistant and then wearing them himself. It seems there may have been something kinky going on with the assistant too. Just look at the detail of his sculpture…
- Registered On: April 22, 2023Topics: 14Replies: 800Has thanked: 2817 timesBeen thanked: 1881 times
Katherine:
I read something about da Vinci a few days ago. I am not sure about actually crossdressing, but he had relationships with two of his underlings that verged on being homosexual. There might be more evidence for them crossdressing.
- Registered On: September 29, 2021Topics: 5Replies: 399Has thanked: 405 timesBeen thanked: 1573 times
I have known many in the spotlight who remain in stealth, and whose identity I will protect, such as professional football players and coaches. But here are a few of my favorites:
– NY Mayor Guiliani, who I discovered when visiting a NY boutique catering to crossdressers, is no stranger to womenless beauty pageants, has a pencheant for heels that rivals Imelda Marcos and is a regular customer of this Manhattan shop that specializes in attire for crossdressers
– the late Michael Jackson
– A ringer is Genghis Kahn, who first introduced pants to men because it was easier to ride horses.
One might counter with Audrey Hepburn, who made pants popular with women– A personal favorite is George Sand, a Fto M crossdresser in a relationship with Frederic Chopin.
George Sand was a French Romantic novelist, one of the first female French writers to establish an international reputation. She became known for behavior unusual for a woman at the time, including openly conducting affairs, smoking a pipe and wearing men’s clothing.[6] some notes:
———————
Hard to believe… The Portrait of Frédéric Chopin and George Sand was an 1838 unfinished oil-on-canvas painting by French artist Eugène Delacroix.He made sketches for it before 1838, a more detailed one of Chopin alone and another, more coarse one of the two.[3][1] Later he painted it originally as a double portrait, which was later cut in two and sold off as separate pieces. It showed composer Frédéric Chopin (1810–49) playing the piano while writer George Sand (1804–76) sits to his right, listening and sewing (a favorite activity of hers). The sitters were lovers at the time, and both were close friends of the artist.[4]
The portrait remained in Delacroix’s studio until his death. Shortly afterward, it was cut into two separate works, both of which are tightly focused. Chopin’s portrait comprises only a head shot, while Sand’s shows her upper body but is narrowly cut. This led to the loss of large areas of the original canvas. The reason for the divide is likely the then-owner’s belief that two paintings would sell for a higher price than one. Today Chopin’s portrait is housed at the Louvre in Paris, while Sand’s hangs at Copenhagen’s Ordrupgaard Museum.[5]
Sand had been a friend of Delacroix for a number of years, though the painter did not hold her work in high regard. She met Chopin in 1836 and from 1838 conducted a relationship with him for ten years, until two years before he died. Much of the composer’s best work was done during those ten years. Though their relationship began as physical, Chopin’s failing health (described in Sand’s autobiographical “Winter in Mallorca”[7]) in time changed her role to that of caregiver.4 users thanked author for this post.
- Registered On: September 29, 2021Topics: 5Replies: 399Has thanked: 405 timesBeen thanked: 1573 times
Hard to believe… he couldn’t even wear a set of earrings.
- Registered On: September 29, 2021Topics: 5Replies: 399Has thanked: 405 timesBeen thanked: 1573 times
Rudy did well from head to toe. The shop I visited kept his stuff in storage; told me the shoe collection was massive. Where does one hide so many boxes of shoes in NY? Trump Tower maybe?
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- Registered On: September 29, 2021Topics: 5Replies: 399Has thanked: 405 timesBeen thanked: 1573 times
They acted like it was a well-known fact. I would think it would be hard to enter a womanless beauty pageant without being recognized by at least some, so perhaps it is. I know other famous people who don’t even use a pseudonym when chatting with me. I would presume the same would be true if trying on clothes at Victoria Secret. Some of us out ourselves and need to bear at least some responsibility if,for instance,we allow photographs to be taken of us and someone somewhere puts the pieces together. It is hard to realistically expect we can retain secrecy, especially if we are well-known. I have been surprised to learn that others who have never previously met me have recognized me just from my voice on a radio interview. Not everyone takes the same precautions to protect their true identity and the need for such precautions are not always apparent. There is ALWAYS risk associated with appearing in public or revealing who we are to anyone, be it spouse, family, or others. it is best to consider in advance what risk we are willing to take.
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- Registered On: February 11, 2019Topics: 24Replies: 1703Has thanked: 5251 timesBeen thanked: 5712 times
The writer Ernst Hemmingway had a son who was a known crossdresser, and there’s a wee bit of evidence that Ernst himself had a penchant for it too. Much at odds with his usual persona but it was discussed in a documentary I saw on him a while back.
Amy
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They do say it may run in the family, and I do recall my dad got dolled up for the 1990 Brazilian carnival but did his earnest not to let my brother and me see it.
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- Registered On: October 15, 2018Topics: 17Replies: 1196Has thanked: 923 timesBeen thanked: 5030 times
If you’re going to count entertainers like Milton Berle (Auntie Mildred) and Flip Wilson (Geraldine), then you have to add Jonathan Winters (Maude Frickert) to the list.
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David Walliams, BGT judge and children’s author I thought was known to like to wear a dress. I guess one of his book titles, ‘The boy in the dress’ is a bit of a giveaway.
Yvette
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David Walliams and Matt Lucas frocked up in every episode of their UK sketch comedy series called Little Britain. If you join my flickr group, Guys to Gurls on Stage and Screen, you can see every instance of their crossdressing, quite realistic in some cases, along with thousands of other pics of cinematic, operatic, musical, televised and thespian femulations.
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Is EJ Johnson considered famous? There are hundreds or maybe thousands of image of him in female clothes. He’s the 30 year old son of a famous man from long time ago, Magic Johnson.
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I was once told that the Hollywood actor Dan Dailey was a crossdresser but I saw no references to it on his Wikipedia page.
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The cult film director Ed Wood was a crossdresser.He was the subject of the biopic Glen and Glenda.The western legend Billy The Kid was also known to be a crossdresser.
A few fictitious crossdressers included Bugs Bunny who dressed up as a female in a number of his cartoons.Superman’s pal Jimmy Olsen was also no stranger to crossdressing.I remember seeing a story in an edition of Superman or Jimmy Olsen’s own comics where he went undercover as a chorus girl.He was very convincing.I was about ten years old at the time of reading the story and was very jealous.
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The biopic about Ed Wood was not Glen or Glenda, a fictional story about a cd, which he directed and played both Glen and Glenda in 1953. The biopic was called Ed Wood and starred Johnny Depp in 1995 with Martin Landau and Sarah Jessica Parker in supporting roles. Only a few scenes show Mr. Depp in drag.
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- Registered On: November 29, 2022Topics: 5Replies: 58Has thanked: 174 timesBeen thanked: 245 times
Seems several people need to do a lot more research into J. Edgar Hoover. There are several accounts and collaborations of him being a cross dresser. Not to mention collaborations of him being gay, actually bi would be a better descriptor.
Several criminal organizations used the above to blackmail him into not investigating their criminal activities, for example the New York mobs.
if you want to talk about government corruption, he is an excellent case study. He by himself was more corrupt that the entire current government.
Of course with all things involving the government, we may never know the truth…
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- Registered On: April 22, 2023Topics: 14Replies: 800Has thanked: 2817 timesBeen thanked: 1881 times
One way to settle this is through a well conceived FOIA request. Ask the FBI for their own info about him. 😉
- Registered On: November 10, 2019Topics: 12Replies: 1197Has thanked: 9 timesBeen thanked: 3395 times
I usually think of corruption in terms of gain of money or power. J. Edgar Hoover was a different in that he was driven by prejudice and vendetta. As far as I know, he didn’t accept bribes or favors. He didn’t gain power as he already had it, and used it, by virtue of his position.
- Registered On: November 29, 2022Topics: 5Replies: 58Has thanked: 174 timesBeen thanked: 245 times
I would disagree. All those recordings allowed him to have power over those he recorded including other politicians.
He accepted bribes from several mobsters in the New York area to keep them from being investigated by law enforcement.
I would like to hear those recordings as well as the ones no one knows about and have probably be lost…
- Registered On: November 10, 2019Topics: 12Replies: 1197Has thanked: 9 timesBeen thanked: 3395 times
His initial power came from his position and he used that position to persecute and manipulate.
I did some research about Hoover and the Mafia. It doesn’t appear that any money changed hands, but there is a strong suggestion the Meyer Lansky had some very compromising photos of Hoover. That was quite possibly the leverage as Hoover was very protective of his public image. It wouldn’t do for the suggestion to get out that he was gay.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave…
- Registered On: April 22, 2023Topics: 14Replies: 800Has thanked: 2817 timesBeen thanked: 1881 times
Well, just taking a cursory look around for the real story, it isn’t as if there isn’t a lot detailing both sides of this allegation, enough to be confusing.
Even Snopes has next to nothing about Hoover.
- Registered On: November 29, 2022Topics: 5Replies: 58Has thanked: 174 timesBeen thanked: 245 times
I would not use snopes. Snopes has been proven to be wrong on multiple like hundreds of occasions.
I would be more inclined to believe sites that provide references to their claims. Then you can go check the referenced sources.
Also, my college degree required me to take several classes that had multiple different textbooks dealing with our justice system. They all referenced Hoover’s crossdressing and all had sited references. Like I said before Hoover could be his own class in government corruption…
Of course, we will never know the truth, it’s the government they lie to us all the time.
Even more important, does it matter? People have been crossdressing for thousands of years. Go look at the little boys that crossdressed to play female actors in the time of Julius Caesar.
- Registered On: January 22, 2023Topics: 5Replies: 26Has thanked: 199 timesBeen thanked: 247 times
Might not be well know outside of South Africa but we have Pieter-Dirk Uys a South African performer, author, satirist, and social activist. One of his best known roles is as Evita Bezuidenhout, an Afrikaner socialite.
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- Registered On: December 14, 2017Topics: 0Replies: 64Has thanked: 47 timesBeen thanked: 214 times
The artist Grayson Perry who often appears in public fully dressed up, even to meet royalty.
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and didn’t Grayson look absolutely wonderful when he went to collect his obe. A “mother of the bride style” as it was described to die for .
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Yes, Grayson Perry is definitely someone to add to the list. IMHO, he is one of the very few public figures that I personally identify with as a crossdreser (I guess Eddie Izzard would be another). I’m not trying to be rigid with the definition, I know that both trans and sexual orientation are on a spectrum, but often public figures who wear women’s clothes are not people I identify with all that closely. While I do believe that anyone who challenges gender norms is helping normalize it for the public masses, I can’t quite connect as a crossdresser with RuPaul or Dame Edna (both drag queens), Harry Styles and Boy George (performers who play with gender in the public eye) or Andrej Pejic (a transgender woman). This is not to say that I don’t like them. I’m a big RuPaul fan. All I’m saying is that it would be nice to see more public figures that are hetero men, that are open and honest in their desire to occasionally express themselves fully as women and be willing to present their femme selves in public from time to time.
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- Registered On: February 22, 2023Topics: 3Replies: 101Has thanked: 987 timesBeen thanked: 643 times
I’ve never heard of Grayson Perry. So I Googled him. Amazing! Simply amazing! Especially looking at all the images of him, his art and, yes, his crossdressing appearances. Marie, I see exactly what you’re taking about.
I say to anyone and everyone at CDH: if you are not familiar with Grayson Perry, you really should look him up.
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I’ve mentioned this before, but Grayson has a documentary on YouTube called “Grayson Perry: Breaking Down Gender Norms” that delves into crossdressing. IMHO, there’s a real lack of documentaries on crossdressing, though there are plenty of being trans.
- Registered On: December 10, 2018Topics: 3Replies: 718Has thanked: 1719 timesBeen thanked: 1939 times
Apparently not well known outside of Germany, I think Lilo Wanders is worthy of mention. She’s now an older gal, like me, but she’s been a “transvestite” comedian, entertainer, and sometimes singer for many years.
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- Registered On: November 5, 2019Topics: 15Replies: 783Has thanked: 3115 timesBeen thanked: 3856 times
There was a rather well known female impersonator (as they were called in what now seems like a very long time ago) by the name of Jim Bailey back in the 1980’s and 90’s. He did singing versions of Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, and others, besides characters like Phyllis Diller, and appeared on commercial TV rather often.
Although I can probably name quite a few, I don’t think actors in one shot movie roles really count. The names listed so far pretty much did it consistently, like the characters in Kids In the Hall. Of course, some actors like Jaye Davidson seemed to carry slightly different versions of their character into more than one role.
Hugs, ChloëC
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Jim Bailey was indeed a legend. He was in Woody Allen’s film, Zelig, as Mae West (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0047312/mediaviewer/rm3460144384/ ) made numerous tv appearances. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0047312/?ref_=nmmi_mi_nm
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- Registered On: October 19, 2022Topics: 16Replies: 918Has thanked: 1758 timesBeen thanked: 2895 times
All the Pythons did it for the show but I believe Graham Chapman crossdressed in RL as well. UK gals, can you confirm?
Tom Fisher had a great turn as transgender killer Angelica Bain in the first season of “Wire in the Blood”.
Rod Steiger in “No Way to Treat a Lady”
Christopher Morley was the go-to actor to play CD/TG roles in the 1980s
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0605869/
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Jared Leto, a member of the band 30 seconds to Mars, also played the role of “Rayon” in Dallas Buyers Club. He has been photographed a few times in various pieces of feminine attire, and to “Get into the mindset” of his character in the movie, he dressed and acted as “Rayon” the whole time on the set. Dresses, heels, and all. Is he a CD? I would say he is a good candidate.
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Flip Wilson as Geraldine.
Does Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon (Some Like It Hot) count?
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- Registered On: April 22, 2023Topics: 14Replies: 800Has thanked: 2817 timesBeen thanked: 1881 times
I don’t thinks so. One-offs in movies aren’t a trend. The same goes for Ronald Reagan and Burt Lancaster. No pattern. They aren’t labeled as crossdressers either.
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- Registered On: April 11, 2017Topics: 38Replies: 1161Has thanked: 5233 timesBeen thanked: 5328 times
Harry Styles has rocked in a dress (Even on the cover of Vogue) more than once, and no it’s not a gimmick, it’s him, he is happy crossdressing and showing all the world.
And for those more mature David Bowie and Freddie Mercury rocked en femme, loved a bit of cross dressing, showing their exuberance and joie de vivre.B x
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- Registered On: January 9, 2021Topics: 25Replies: 325Has thanked: 983 timesBeen thanked: 1995 times
Harry Styles is a huge star and his behavior around bending traditional gender norms make him pretty darn cool in my eyes! Cd? Trans? Or some where in between, who cares? he certainly opens the general public’s eyes about us in a positive way. Thanks Bianca
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- Registered On: August 27, 2017Topics: 144Replies: 1414Has thanked: 12 timesBeen thanked: 6278 times
“The Two Ronnies” (messrs Barker and Corbett, (especially the former, seemed to be “into it” a lot).
Dave Foley from Kids In the Hall, (Canada)
Probably more “full on trans” but Courtney Act and Andre Prejic are Australians who come to mind as well.
Caty.
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- Registered On: January 28, 2022Topics: 0Replies: 158Has thanked: 711 timesBeen thanked: 687 times
Caty, my favorite Dave Foley Crossdressing scene was the one were showed up to a company Halloween party wearing his girlfriend’s LBD she was pissed and said he looked better in her dress than she did. He did look good definitely a crossdresser!
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- Registered On: August 1, 2020Topics: 11Replies: 1770Has thanked: 6170 timesBeen thanked: 8098 times
Hinge and Bracket (U.K.)
Danny La Rue (U.K)
Bigwood twins (U.S)
Stanley Baxter (U.K)
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Aunty so wishes that the UK show Dear Ladies, the lovable sitcom starring Hinge and Bracket, could be streamed in the U.S. Those ladies had class!
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Milton Berle crossdressed so many times on his various tv shows, in a music video for Ratt, a rock band in which his nephew played, and as a guest on I Love Lucy, that one has to consider that he enjoyed frocking up.
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- Registered On: January 9, 2021Topics: 25Replies: 325Has thanked: 983 timesBeen thanked: 1995 times
Milton Berle is an interesting case June. Many of us have been to a Halloween party dressed but if a person did it ever year folks start to wonder. I think good old uncle Milty may have gone a little too far for a joke and used it a little too often. Maybe he was one of us? Sadly we will never know.
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- Registered On: December 30, 2021Topics: 8Replies: 131Has thanked: 244 timesBeen thanked: 626 times
J. Edgar Hoover was not a U.S. president, he was the longtime director of the FBI. Also, the notion of him cross dressing is a rumor started by the wife of a friend of Hoover’s who did not like him. She claimed that she saw him cross dressing at all male parties with male prostitutes. She lacked credibility and actually later pled guilty to perjury in a separate matter. It would be completely out of character for Hoover to recklessly engage in cross dressing, especially out in public. Allegations and rumors of Hoover cross dressing have never been corroborated and have been debunked by historians.
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- Registered On: October 12, 2022Topics: 9Replies: 241Has thanked: 767 timesBeen thanked: 951 times
Karla,
I should have known about him not being the president! I am more than a little embarrassed about that error. Regarding the crossdressing issue, I will remove him from the list. Thanks for putting me right.
Embarrassedly wrong but happy to be corrected,
Christine3 users thanked author for this post.
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