Bob Penny Forrest Gump actor

Actor Bob Penny, who scored minor roles in the films "Forrest Gump" and "Sweet Home Alabama," has died.

He played a “crony” in “Forrest Gump,” and a bumbling, small-town lawyer in “Sweet Home Alabama." He also landed a role in the TV series “In the Heat of the Night.” Penny was a bit part actor in dozens of films and TV shows during his long career stretching back to the '80s.

Character actor Bob Penny, who had roles in box-office hits "Forrest Gump," "Sweet Home Alabama," and "My Cousin Vinny" died on Christmas Day at the age of ...

Penny’s on-screen credits include more than 30 movie and television roles, and while his parts were often small, some of the projects were anything but. But he’d established himself in a very different role decades prior to that. [Laughlin Service Funeral Home](https://www.laughlinservice.com/obituaries/Dr-Robert-Bob-Lynn-Penny?obId=26760614#/obituaryInfo), Penny got his start as an educator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he taught Poetry and Prose for 21 years.

Bob Penny was a poet and professor who after retirement appeared in movies including Forrest Gump, Sweet Home Alabama and My Cousin Vinny.

Penny, born in Anniston, AL, grew up in North Carolina before returning to Alabama where he taught poetry and prose at the University of Alabama at Birmingham for 21 years. No cause of death was given. [Bob Penny](https://deadline.com/tag/bob-penny/), a poet and professor who after retirement appeared in small parts in movies including [Forrest Gump](https://deadline.com/tag/forrest-gump/), [Sweet Home Alabama](https://deadline.com/tag/sweet-home-alabama/) and My Cousin Vinny and in the TV series [In the Heat of the Night](https://deadline.com/tag/in-the-heat-of-the-night/), died December 25 in Huntsville, AL.

Actor Bob Penny, who had roles in 'Sweet Home Alabama' and 'Forrest Gump,' died on Christmas Day.

[on her Facebook page](http://niece Meghan Penny wrote on her Facebook page.). He was my confidant and mentor; my laughter companion and best friend. In 1990, the university offered Penny a job as a full-time professor in Theater and English but he declined, instead deciding to retire from teaching. [My Cousin Vinny](https://people.com/movies/my-cousin-vinny-where-are-they-now/) with [Joe Pesci](https://people.com/movies/joe-pesci-reflects-on-making-home-alone-2-with-macaulay-culkin-as-movie-turns-30/) and [Marisa Tomei](https://people.com/tag/marisa-tomei/). In 2002's Sweet Home Alabama starring Reese Witherspoon, he played small-town lawyer Wallace Buford. The actor, poet and teacher is survived by his brother William Earl Penny and sister Jean Marion You, along with six nieces and one nephew.

Bob Penny, an actor best known for his roles in 'Forrest Gump' and 'My Cousin Vinny,' died in Huntsville, Alabama on Dec. 25, 2022. He was 87.

He was later honored by the Alabama School of Fine Arts with the Applause Award for his contributions to local theater in 1996. Robert Lynn "Bob" Penny began his professional career as a teacher before eventually making his transition to the silver screen after appearing in a series of commercials in the early '80s. A cause of death was not revealed and a celebration of his life will be announced at a later date.