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Obituaries in the news

By The Associated Press AP - Thursday, July 2

Alexis Arguello

MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AP) _ Boxing champion Alexis Arguello, considered one of the best lightweights to step in the ring, has died. He was 57.

Arguello, who was elected mayor of Managua last year, was found dead at his home Wednesday according to his Sandinista Party's Radio Ya. Radio Ya said that coroners were conducting an autopsy to determine the cause of death, but it appeared to be a suicide. The La Prensa newspaper reported he was found with a gunshot wound to the chest.

He turned pro in 1968 and six years later, won his first title by knocking out Ruben Olivares for the featherweight crown. Arguello was perhaps best known for two thrilling battles with Aaron Pryor and fights with Ray Mancini and Bobby Chacon.

Nicknamed "The Explosive Thin Man," Arguello went on to capture the super featherweight and lightweight belts, becoming the sixth boxer to win titles in three weight classes in 1981.

Arguello was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1992. Arguello retired in 1995 with a record of 82-8 with 65 knockouts. He was voted the best junior lightweight and sixth-best lightweight of the 20th century by a panel of experts assembled by The Associated Press in 1999. Arguello never lost a fight at 130 pounds.

His popularity in his own country was so great that he carried the flag for Nicaragua at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and led to his decision to seek public office.

Arguello, who fought against the Sandinista government in the 1980s after it seized his property and bank account, joined the party to win the mayorship of the capital in 2008, though opponents alleged the vote was fraudulent.

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Karl Malden

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ Karl Malden, the Academy Award-winning actor whose intelligent characterizations on stage and screen made him a star despite his plain looks, has died. He was 97.

Malden died Wednesday of natural causes at his Brentwood home, his family told the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He served as the academy's president from 1989-92.

While he tackled a variety of characters over the years, he was often seen in working-class garb or military uniform. His authenticity in grittier roles came naturally: He was the son of a Czech mother and a Serbian father, and worked for a time in the steel mills of Gary, Ind.

Malden won a supporting actor Oscar in 1951 for his role as Blanche DuBois' naive suitor Mitch in "A Streetcar Named Desire" _ a role he also played on Broadway.

He was nominated again in 1954 for his performance as Father Corrigan, a fearless, friend-of-the-workingman priest in "On the Waterfront." He costarred with Marlon Brando in both movies.

Malden gained perhaps his greatest fame as Lt. Mike Stone in the 1970s television show "The Streets of San Francisco," in which Michael Douglas played the veteran detective's junior partner. That role earned him five Emmy nominations.

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Harve Presnell

NEW YORK (AP) _ Harve (HARHV) Presnell (prehs-NEHL'), whose booming baritone graced such Broadway musicals as "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" and "Annie," has died. He was 75.

Presnell's agent Gregg Klein says the actor died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif.

An operatic singer, Presnell had the role of Johnny 'Leadville' Brown in "The Unsinkable Molly Brown" written just for him by composer Meredith Willson in 1960. He earned kudos for his stage performance and later for his screen recreation with Debbie Reynolds in 1964.

Presnell was cast alongside Liberace and the British rock group Herman's Hermits in 1965's "When the Boys Meet the Girls", and with Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood in "Paint Your Wagon" in 1969.

Returning to the stage, Presnell landed the role of Daddy Warbucks in the Broadway musical "Annie" in 1979, and he later toured in the role.

After more an absence of more than 25 years, Presnell became a viable character player of the big screen after appearing in "Fargo" in 1996. Subsequent film roles included 1998's "Patch Adams" and "Saving Private Ryan" and 2000's "The Legend of Bagger Vance" and "Family Man."

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