Bob Penny, ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and ‘Forrest Gump’ actor, dies at 87

Bob Penny, an actor who played roles in ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and ‘Forrest Gump’ died on Christmas Day at age 87.

No cause of death was given.

Born in 1935, the Alabama native spent the majority of his early life as a professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, teaching poetry and English, according to his obituary from Laughlin Service Funeral Home in Huntsville. , To the.

Penny found side work as a television commercial actor for a local department store and for a United Way campaign in Atlanta in the 1980s, according to AL.com.

Penny retired after 32 years in teaching in 1990 to focus on her acting career.

« Then the movies started coming in, » Penny said in a 2008 interview with AL.com. ‘mortgage.

Penny is credited in over 30 movies and TV series. He played small-town lawyer Wallace Buford in 2002’s « Sweet Home Alabama » and had a small role in the 1994 classic « Forrest Gump. »

The Columbia graduate is also credited on « My Cousin Vinny » and « The Legend of Bagger Vance » and the TV series « In the Heat of the Night. »

When not performing on screen, Penny had roles in theater productions in Birmingham.

Rhonda Erbrick, chair of the theatre’s board, said Penny « captured all of our hearts at Birmingham Festival Theatre » and was dedicated to craftsmanship.

« [Penny] is and always has been an actor and a joy to be around.

Penny is survived by her brother, William Earl Penny (Betty), her sister, Jean Marion Yount, six nieces and one nephew.

With post wires