Ben (Night of the Living Dead)
Ben was one of several people who fled (after an incident at Beakman's Diner) from the newly-risen living dead to an abandoned farmhouse. Easily the most competent of the group at the house, he organized the defense of the building and kept the others in line as best he could. Ben faced the strongest opposition from the unstable Harry Cooper, who at one point shut him outside with the dead. He was the only person to survive when the ghouls broke into the home, but was tragically shot dead the next day by a zombie-hunting posse led by Sheriff McClelland.
(According to John Russo's novelization, Ben is a widower with two sons who he is desperate to get back to, and who are living with their grandmother in a neighboring town. The dead wife, the sons and grandmother are never named however. Ben's fate in the novelization differs slightly - although he is still shot by McClelland's men at the end, prior to holing up in the basement he is bitten by the undead Karen Cooper, meaning he would've turned into a zombie anyway, although McClelland and his men did not know this.)
Night of the Living Dead (1990)
Mostly the same as in the original, except that he is shot by Harry Cooper and dies from his wounds whil hiding out in the cellar of the farmhouse. By the time Barbara returns with Hondo, Bulldog and the rest of Sheriff McClelland's posse, Ben has turned into a zombie, thus making his being shot valid.
