He remains an essential figure in the Met's future.
In the last decade, Moynihan has not been an essential figure in American politics.
He was an essential figure in modern writing and in the history of the city.
Mohammed, not Osama bin Laden, was the essential figure in the 9/11 plot.
But he was to be an essential figure in that transition, and in maintaining Spain's stability and unity in the post-Franco era.
"He remains a complex, contradictory and essential figure in American culture," intones the actor Morgan Freeman, narrator of "Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows," an awestruck but enjoyable appraisal of Mr. Eastwood's career.
The pianist Larry Harlow has been an essential figure in New York salsa since the 1970's and leads his Latin Legends band, bridging hard-driving dance tunes with jazz excursions.
With the escalation of troop strength in Afghanistan and a reduction of troops in Iraq, the White House sees Mr. Gates as an essential figure in the year ahead -- and beyond.
Private Eyes, and Fees For a man who one day would become an essential figure in the art market, Mr. Radcliffe had little exposure to art growing up, beyond some family portraits that were handed down through the generations.
Uptown Theater, April 28, 2 30 and 7 30 p.m., uptowntheater gp.com DALLAS Sing It Again Jerry Jeff Walker, an essential figure in the cosmic-cowboy scene, can get lost among titans like Willie Nelson, but a tour by the folkie Todd Snider in support of his new album of Mr. Walker's songs will reaffirm Mr. Walker's role in the scene's unification of the hippies and the rednecks.
