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Anthony Roberts, 65; Freelancer Won Pulitzer for Spot News Photos

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From Times Staff and Wire Reports

Anthony Kalani “Kal” Roberts, 65, who won a Pulitzer Prize in photography, died Monday in Phoenix of prostate cancer, according to his family.

Roberts first worked as an actor, with roles in beach movies, including “Monster From the Surf.”

He later turned to photography, and in 1973 took seven pictures of an attempted abduction of a woman in a Hollywood parking lot that ended with the death of the assailant. The photographs, which were published in the Los Angeles Times and distributed around the world by Associated Press, won him the 1974 Pulitzer for spot news photography and the Sigma Delta Chi award.

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He freelanced as a news photographer for many years and was a still photographer for many film and television productions. After moving to Nashville in the 1980s, he produced promotional images for Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Tanya Tucker and others.

Roberts later became a familiar sight in country music videos and was cast with Cash and Nelson in “The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James” (1986) and “Stagecoach” (1986).

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