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

Character actor Bob Penny, who had roles in box-office hits "Forrest Gump" and "Sweet Home Alabama," died on Christmas Day at the age of 87.

Born Robert Lynn Penny in Anniston, Alabama, on June 29, 1935, the entertainer gained fame for his on-screen career, which kicked off in the 1980s. But he’d established himself in a very different role decades prior to that.

According to an obituary shared by the Laughlin Service Funeral Home, Penny got his start as an educator at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he taught Poetry and Prose for 21 years.

In total, he worked as a teacher for 32 years, earning accolades for his poetry and classroom excellence, before retiring from education and setting his sights on Hollywood.

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. In addition to the aforementioned famous films, he also starred in “Mississippi Burning” (1988), “My Cousin Vinny” (1992) and “The Legend of Bagger Vance” (2000).

IMDb lists his last work as a two-episode run on Billy Ray Cyrus’ CMT series, “Still the King,” in 2016.

“I was really lucky," Penny told AL.com in a 2008 interview. "I had these very small roles, but they sure helped pay the mortgage.”

Penny is survived by his brother, William Earl Penny, his sister, Jean Marion Yount, as well as six nieces and a nephew.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com