David Niven never lost his cool. He expressed surprise that the man was willing to put his obvious shortcomings on full display.
Streaking incident at the 1974 Oscars
On April 2, 1974, Opel apparently snuck backstage posing as a journalist to gain entry to the stage at the 46th Academy Awards show at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, CA. He ran naked past David Niven flashing a peace sign while Niven was introducing Elizabeth Taylor.
After breaking into laughter momentarily, Niven regained his composure, turned to the audience and quipped, “Well, ladies and gentlemen, that was almost bound to happen... But isn’t it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off and showing his shortcomings?”
Later, some evidence arose suggesting that Opel’s appearance was facilitated by the show’s producer Jack Haley, Jr. as a stunt. Robert Metzler, the show’s business manager, believed that the incident had been planned in some way. He said that, during the dress rehearsal, Niven had asked Metzler’s wife to borrow a pen so he could write down the famous ad-lib. Opel apparently had to cut through an expensive seamless background curtain in order to reach the stage.
The episode made Opel something of a celebrity. Producer Allan Carr even asked him to streak at a party for Rudolph Nureyev.
Death
Opel was murdered on the night of July 7, 1979 during an attempted robbery of his San Francisco studio by Robert E. Kelly and Maurice Keenan. He was 39.