“Gary From Chicago” was two days out of prison when he went to the Oscars

“Gary from Chicago” became a social media sensation at the Oscars on Sunday, meeting celebrities and getting “married” by Denzel Washington. But just days before the ceremony, his life had been very different.

Gary Alan Coe was one of about a dozen tourists who boarded a Hollywood sightseeing bus Sunday evening only to be unwittingly made a part of the Academy Awards telecast thanks to a prank by host Jimmy Kimmel.

Just two days before the Oscars, Coe was released from prison after 20 years behind bars, according to the Chicago Tribune.

“He got a life sentence for stealing perfume in 1997, and we finally won release this year,” Coe’s lawyer, Karen Nash, wrote in a Facebook post. “He got out on Friday, and was…