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Well-known actor Bob Penny recently passed away on Sunday, December 25, at the age of 87. His cause of death is yet to be revealed.
Penny appeared as a crony in the 1994 comedy-drama film Forrest Gump and a lawyer, Wallace Bufford, in the 2002 romantic comedy film Sweet Home Alabama.
In a Facebook post by Michael Price Nelson, a member of James Hatcher and UAB’s Town and Gown paid tribute to him and revealed that he died quietly at his residence in Huntsville at 3.20 pm on Christmas Day. The post continued,
“A great actor, a good friend to many and an avid supporter of Birmingham’s theater scene, he will be sorely missed, I’m sure. Bob did a lot of film work in his later years. My favorite among his 35 film and TV roles was a lawyer named “Buford” in Reese Witherspoon’s “Sweet Home Alabama.” What a guy. God bless him!”
While speaking to AL.com, the chairman of Birmingham Festival Theatre said that he loved BFT and would always talk about "how to make the hidden gem of a theatre sparkle brighter in the Magic City." The statement continued,
“Bob Penny is and was always an actor and a joy to be around. Birmingham Festival Theatre loved him dearly and now we mourn a grievous loss alongside the Birmingham Theatre Community at the loss of such a fine actor and human being.”
Bob Penny is survived by a brother, sister, nephew, and six nieces.
Bob Penny played minor roles in various films and appeared in many stage plays
Born on June 29, 1935, Penny was featured in different films and received several accolades. He was initially a professor at the University of Alabama, teaching poetry and prose.
He started appearing in many commercials in the 80s and took retirement as a professor in 1990. He was then cast in many films, including Sweet Home Alabama, Mississippi Burning, My Cousin Vinny, The Legend of Bagger Vance, and more.
Bob Penny gained recognition for his appearance in the 1994 comedy-drama film Forrest Gump. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the film was a critical and commercial success and grossed around $678 million at the box office. He also appeared in the 2002 romantic comedy film Sweet Home Alabama, which was also successful at the box office, grossing around $180 million.
In an interview with AL.com in 2008, he spoke about his experience working in commercials. He said that a British friend of his saw one of his commercials and asked him to come to Atlanta and check if they would like to have him as one of their actors at the agency. He continued,
“Then the movies began to come. I was really lucky. I had these very small roles, but they sure helped pay the mortgage.”
Bob also appeared on a TV show, In the Heat of the Night. He was popular for his performances in stage plays like The Odd Couple, Don Juan in Hell, The Dresser, and more.
