Thumbnails don't show up in iPhoto

Weirdly, the vast majority of my pictures in iPhoto (the ones older than a few weeks) now no longer show up in the library, either as thumbnails or when I try to edit them. They are only a grey square with a dotted frame and an exclamation point.
The pictures are still there (if I go to Finder and navigate through the folder structure, I can see them in the preview window), but apparently, iPhoto can't see them to display them. I have not made any changes to the folder structure or modified anything in Finder, so I'm having trouble understanding what the cause of this is.
Based on previous discussions here, I have tried the following:
1. Rebuilding the library and thumbnails (option + command, then selecting the top three options) - took about a minute (I have over 7000 pictures in the library) and yielded no results.
2. Tried moving the data folder according to Lori's tip here http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=2070087&#2070087 and then rebuilding, still no luck.
3. Downloaded iPhoto Library Manager as suggested here http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7280470&#7280470 and used that to rebuild my library. It could only find the pictures from the last few weeks (the same ones that iPhoto will display) and not the other ones.
Any help or tips would be much appreciated! It's reassuring to know my pictures are still there, but I'm not really sure why iPhoto all of a sudden can't find them...

Inki
You’re database is damaged (by a crash, perhaps?) and the damage is such that it cannot be recovered with Library Manager.
Your only option now is to create and populate a new Library:
To create and populate a new library:
Note this will give you a working library with the same Rolls and pictures as before, however, you will lose your albums, keywords, modified versions, books, calendars etc.
Move the iPhoto Library to the desktop
Launch iPhoto. It will ask if you wish to create a new Library. Say Yes.
Go into the iPhoto Library on your desktop and find the Originals folder. From the Originals folder drag the individual Roll Folders to the iPhoto Window and it will recreate them in the new library.
When you're sure all is well you can delete the iPhoto Library on your desktop.
In the future, in addition to your usual back up routine, you might like to make a copy of the library6.iPhoto file whenever you have made changes to the library as protection against database corruption.
Regards
TD

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