Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson)

Ben Parker, commonly known as Uncle Ben, is a fictional supporting character from the Marvel Comics' Spider-Man series. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko in 1962. He was portrayed by the late Cliff Robertson in all three of Sam Raimi's film series. He appears in flashbacks in the second and third films after dying during the first film.

Spider-Man
Uncle Ben and Aunt May take care of their nephew, Peter Parker in the absence of his parents for unkown reasons. An electrician by trade, he acted as a father figure for Peter through his upbringing. One night Ben drives Peter to the library and talks with Peter about his changing behaviour. Losing his temper during Ben's speech, Peter tells him to stop pretending like he's his father. Later that night, Ben is apparently shot by a carjacker whose accomplice, Dennis Carradine, Peter refused to stop when cheated out of his money by the man Carradine robbed. Peter is haunted by the fact that he could have stopped Carradine and saved his uncle.

Spider-Man 2
During the time where Peter was contemplating giving up his alter-ego Pater sees in a flashback a physical representation of Uncle Ben, encouraging Peter to continue on as Spider-Man. Peter also later admits the truth surrounding Uncle Ben's death to Aunt May. She is shocked and upset upon first hearing it walking away silently from Peter. However, she later commends Peter for telling her the truth, describing it as a brave move.