Ben is the main protagonist of George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead as well as Tom Savini's 1990 remake. The character was portrayed by Duane Jones in the original and by Tony Todd in the remake.
History[]
As the undead menace sweeps across Pennsylvania, Ben arrives at the farmhouse in a pickup truck and finds that Barbra is already there. Barbra is practically catatonic having witnessed the dead coming back to life, killing her brother and coming after her, so it is left to Ben to try and snap Barbra out of her stupor and barricade the house. During this period of isolation, Ben becomes confrontational with fellow survivor Harry Cooper, a pessimistic man who is struggling to cope with the disaster outside and care for his sick daughter. While nothing is revealed about his past, Ben carries an air of authority about him and is the most level-headed of the group of survivors.
Death[]
In the 1968 original film, Ben locks himself in the cellar when the zombie horde overruns the house. He is the last man standing by this point as all the other survivors he was with are dead, leaving him to brave the night on his own. He survives until daybreak and finds that the undead have dispersed, allowing him to leave the house. Not long after stepping outside, however, Ben is shot by a posse of rednecks who mistook him as another zombie.
In the 1990 remake, Ben locks himself in the cellar but is wounded after a confrontation with Cooper. With Barbra gone and the others all dead, he is alone in the cellar and he eventually bleeds to death. The next day, Barbra and a vigilante posse return to the house and break down the door to the cellar. After dying, Ben had reanimated as a zombie and is shot by one of the rednecks as he steps out of the cellar.