--- description: Gary and his fiancée Vicki stole the show at the Oscars after Jimmy Kimmel brought their tour group to the show title: We Finally Know More About Gary From Chicago’s Identity image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf1630c4ffd19c9a/6988bc1197cdff19096af9d3/gary-chicago-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Newsfeed](/tag/time-section-newsfeed/) ## Newsfeed Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # We Finally Know More About Gary From Chicago’s Identity by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 27, 2017 4:30 PM CUT by [Melissa Locker](/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 27, 2017 4:30 PM CUT The Oscars [Best Picture flub](http://time.com/4683402/oscars-2017-recap-review/?xid=homepage "undefined") may dominate headlines, but the moment that really stole the show didn’t involve _La La Land_, _Moonlight_, or even [a red envelope](http://time.com/4683502/oscars-2017-best-picture-moonlight-la-la-land-mix-up/?xid=homepage "undefined"), but an affable man from Chicago named Gary. During the show, host [Jimmy Kimmel](http://time.com/4683401/oscars-2017-jimmy-kimmel-tweeted-at-donald-trump/?xid=homepage "undefined") decided to prank a busload of tourists, arranging for them to be walked through the [Oscars](http://time.com/4683716/oscars-2017-best-picture-mistake-theories/?xid=homepage "undefined") and meet the stars. One member of the tour group was a man who introduced himself as Gary and he quickly captured the heart of viewers (and Twitter) with his honesty, charm, and unmistakable ease at finding himself in front of an A-list crowd and cameras broadcasting him to the entire world. During his time on camera, Gary, who was accompanied by his equally affable fiancée Vicki, took selfies with Meryl Streep, touched Mahershala Ali’s [Oscar](http://time.com/4680665/oscars-2017-political-moments/?xid=homepage "undefined") statuette, and was pronounced husband and wife by Vicki’s favorite actor, Denzel Washington. When Kimmel said to Gary: “I feel like you’re ignoring the white celebrities.” Gary coolly responded to Kimmel: “Yes, I am.” Soon, the hashtag #GaryFromChicago was trending on Twitter. The _New York Times_ had the same question as everyone else, “[Who is Gary from Chicago?](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/movies/oscars-audience-wonders-who-is-gary-from-chicago.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined")” Now, [ABC’s Chicago affiliate](http://abc7chicago.com/entertainment/chicago-couple-steals-show-at-oscars/1775394/ "undefined") has identified him as Gary Alan Cole, and a lot of people want to meet him. The couple is schedule to appear on _Jimmy Kimmel Live!_ on Monday night and, [according to ABC 7](http://abc7chicago.com/entertainment/chicago-couple-steals-show-at-oscars/1775394/ "undefined"), _Blackish_ star Anthony Anderson has offered to marry the Chicago couple on the show, noting that unlike Denzel, he is qualified to perform the ceremony. Other perks are already beginning to roll in for the couple, too, including free tickets from the Chicago Bulls. > [](https://twitter.com/chicagobulls/status/836057191253684224) Can their own reality show be far behind? Not according to Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/mskatelynnutter/status/836056719692292096) > [](https://twitter.com/0uttie5000/status/836056512095272960) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4683854/oscars-2017-gary-identity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4683854/oscars-2017-gary-identity/"},"headline":"We Finally Know More About Gary From Chicago’s Identity","datePublished":"2017-02-27T16:30:34.000Z","dateModified":"2026-06-24T06:56:52.464Z","description":"Gary and his fiancée Vicki stole the show at the Oscars","url":"https://time.com/4683854/oscars-2017-gary-identity/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Television","movies","awards","Academy Awards","Jimmy Kimmel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf1630c4ffd19c9a/6988bc1197cdff19096af9d3/gary-chicago-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcf1630c4ffd19c9a/6988bc1197cdff19096af9d3/gary-chicago-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"89th Academy Awards - Oscars Awards Show","caption":"\"Gary from Chicago\" kisses the hand of Nicole Kidman during the 89th Academy Awards, on Feb. 26, 2017 in Hollywood, Calif.","creditText":"Lucy Nicholson—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4683854/oscars-2017-gary-identity/","name":"We Finally Know More About Gary From Chicago’s Identity"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"This Video Is No Longer Available","description":"Gary and his fiancée Vicki stole the show at the Oscars","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fKodeUO6/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2026-06-23T15:00:44.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fKodeUO6.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4683854/oscars-2017-gary-identity/","duration":"PT10S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4683854/oscars-2017-gary-identity/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```