Here’s the famous moment at the 1974 Oscars when a streaker ran behind David Niven. LINK (alas, Youtube won’t let me embed it)
The great actor wasn’t ruffled, making a witty comment about the streaker’s shortcomings.
Category: History
Helen D’Amico Reappears
The Northern Territory News (and News Ltd) has tracked down one of Australia’s more famous streakers, Helen D’Amico. She’s currently living in Darwin and studying a nursing degree.
Helen made headlines when she streaked at the 1982 AFL grand final between Carlton and Richmond. Wearing only a scarf, she did her best to cuddle bald player Bruce Doull.
Interest in the streak has re-emerged because Doull agreed to re-enact the streak for a Toyota commercial.
The Story of Robert Opel, The Oscar Streaker
Check out the interesting blog post here about Robert Opel, the man who streaked past David Niven at the 1974 Oscars.
I’d never actually heard the conspiracy theories that the streak was planned. This article looks at the life story of Opel and how he actually got into the Oscars in the first place:
At the start of 1974, Opel was a freelance photographer for the gay newspaper The Advocate (now a leading national magazine). When he showed up at the Academy Awards he used these credentials, and a great deal of exaggeration, to make himself appear a more significant journalist than he actually was (nobody questioned the validity of a long-haired journalist in a blue jump suit?). Once Opel was in, he knew that his incongruous appearance could have potentially raised red flags before the stunt was attempted. He made his way backstage and hid inside an enormous piece of scenery.
This piece on WFMU’s site was what motivated me to finally get off my bum and redo Streakerama. I should be posting this kind of stuff and hope do to so more in the future.