1.   At the beginning of the year, the deaths of two beloved figures of the dance world reminded everyone just how wide and wonderful that world is.

2.   For the past five years, as host of a series of arts programs on the BBC, she has become a beloved figure in Britain.

3.   Gottlieb, in fact, is the closest to a universally beloved figure in the book.

4.   He remained a beloved figure during his eight-year presidency.

5.   He said it has been hard not to be emotional, with DiMaggio such a beloved figure around the world.

6.   He is a beloved figure in his country.

7.   He says he intends to use Shawon Dunston and Willie McGee, a beloved figure in St. Louis, at first base.

8.   In England, Margolyes is a beloved household figure because of her presence on a long-running series of British Telecom television commercials.

9.   In the West, the firefighters are beloved figures, praised for their respect for the land and the efforts to which they go to demonstrate it.

10.   In these days of bitter confrontation between hard-line clerics and liberal writers in Iran, even a figure as beloved as the Mullah Nasreddin might feel threatened.