There, his activities as a surfer and hot rod racer brought him to the attention of Hollywood, where his dark looks[citation needed] and natural athleticism won him work in commercials and as an advertising model.
In 1986, when commissioned to take still photographs of the remake of the 1939 John Wayne film, Stagecoach, Roberts was recruited by director Ted Post to play the role of the outlaw Hank Plummer.
[2] Taking up freelance photography as a profession, Roberts was carrying his camera in 1973 when he encountered a man attempting to abduct a woman from a Hollywood parking lot in broad daylight.
Brandishing and clicking the camera in an attempt to deter the assailant, he captured the struggle and subsequent fatal shooting of the attacker by a security guard.
The resulting series of pictures ran in the following day's Los Angeles Times, and were carried by the Associated Press, which nominated them for the 1974 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography.