Ben Healy

Benjamin John "Little Ben" Healy Jr. is the protagonist of problem child and the deuteragonist of problem child 2. He was portrayed by the late John Ritter in the first two films, William Katt in the third film, and voiced by Mark L. Taylor in the animated series.

Personality[]

Ben Healy is nice, good-natured, and caring. After adopting Junior, he initially tried to be fatherly but found his patience and mentality waning from his trouble. He also was heartbroken by his wife cheating and when they were snatched, he was grateful to be freed until discovering Junior truly cared for him and realized that all he needed was love, he finally stands up to those who wronged him and divorces the cruel and ungrateful Flo. Ben also took a bullet for Junior and was touched by his son's pleading words and confirmed he loved him.

When deciding to move from Cold River to Mortville, he expressed brief nostalgia until Junior reminded him that he was unfairly hated by the neighbors, his own father, and former wife, Flo for being "too nice." At that point, he threw the happiness aside and destroyed a sign to symbolize his freedom from the source of his horrible life. Despite his resentment of him, Ben put aside his dislike of his father to let the latter stay with him at his side and the two started to get along better.

After divorcing Flo, Ben was looking for his true love as he fell in love with Annie Young, the school nurse in the second film and with a therapist, Sarah Gray in the third film. He also briefly dated a divorced woman named Debbie Claukinski in the second film before she reunited with her former husband Voytek Claukinski. It is not known what happened to Ben's relationship with Annie between the sequels.

Problem Child[]

A new son[]

Ben and his wife Flo Healy go to the gynecologists to find out that Flo is unable to have children. In the car while dropping Ben off at work, Ben tries to convince her of adopting but she tells Ben she doesn't want a "second hand" kid and rejects his plan for adoption. After Flo becomes jealous of the neighbors getting together for children's birthdays, Ben is able to finally convince her that adoption is a quicker way to a social climb. They go to the adoption agency, and Mr. Peabody further convinces the married couple that they should adopt an older child instead of an infant.

As Junior causes havoc at the party after the other kids tease him and ostracize him for being adopted so he throws presents into the pool. The family gets kicked out of the party after Junior blows up the cake. At home Flo is brushing her hair and tells Ben to "Be a Man" and beat Junior for his behavior, giving him her brush. Ben doesn't follow through with it because he sees that Junior is remorseful for what he did.

At the little league baseball game that Ben is coach of, Junior gets taunted and teased by the other players because of Ben, and proceeds to beat the other kids using the bat; he then calls "Touchdown" despite the game being baseball and not football. This causes Ben to remark, "We've adopted Satan."

They go straight after to the church; as Ben makes confession, Flo chases Junior all around the church as she calls him a "heathen" and a "little creep". Ben is convinced that he wants to take Junior back, believing him to be too much of a problem.

Flo and Ben go back to the adoption agency and try to return him to Mr. Peabody. Mr. Peabody says he's been retuned thirty times already, in which Flo responds, "Well, this makes thirty-one, Charley."

Taken aback by the realization of Junior having been given up on by thirty different couples, Ben opts to keep Junior and make an "inspiring" speech, in which Flo berates him for.

Believing he is going to be returned to the adoption agency, Junior starts to drive the car and crashes it into Big Ben's store and does a lot of damage.

Ben is catatonic after the incident — especially when he is threatened with paying the damages to the store. Meanwhile, Martin "The Bow-Tie Killer" Beck, has been exchanging pen pal letters with Junior, with Junior using the moniker "J.R" when signing his letters. Martin is disappointed when he notices Junior is actually a 7-year-old boy, as he thought Junior was another criminal and wanted to do a crime spree with him. Martin claims he's Junior's uncle.

Seeing this as a way to get rid of Junior, Flo invites Martin to stay for dinner. At dinner, Flo is really trying to convince Martin to take Junior. In the kitchen, she and Martin talk before he tells Flo how he hasn't been with a woman in fifteen years, and she says women love single fathers and they would just flock to him. Right then he kisses her, and they embrace. She says "fifteen years?" and aggressively takes over as they make out in the kitchen, while Ben hears still catatonic and heartbroken at her betrayal.

In the morning, Ben finds that Flo and Junior are kidnapped. Martin wants a $100,000 for their return which Ben says "He can keep them!" However, as he starts to celebrate his newfound freedom, he comes across some of Junior's drawings and sees that Junior depicted him as a sweet loving figure. Ben realized Junior didn't know how to process his support but did love him as his father. Ben then became determined to get his son back and adopted a more serious nature. To that end, Ben steals his arrogant and snobby neighbor Roy's car and confronts his father on the money but is rejected though he exposed his true nature.

Ben catches up to Beck and Junior at the circus, being able to rescue Junior who slipped away at the trapeze act. Beck attempted to escape but the Healy's pursue Beck in a car chase and Ben acquires a rifle, while chasing him in a car chase.

During the chase, Ben shoots open the trunk and as Martin's car hits a bump, causing a suitcase to fling out and land on the roof of the car Junior and Ben are riding on. Inside the suitcase, Flo is heard screaming and the surprised Ben says her name in confusion. From inside, she angrily calls out to Ben and says she wants a divorce; Ben replies by rudely telling her to shut up, out of resentment from her cheating and their terrible marriage. After the car comes to a complete stop, the suitcase with Flo is sent over the bridge they are on and lands on a truck full of pigs.

Running to the highway railing, both Ben and Junior see the farm truck carrying a protesting Flo drive off. Satisfied to be rid of her, Ben remarks "Flo always said she wanted to travel." The police arrive and apprehend Beck and the two Healys start to walk away until Beck is able to steal a cop's gun and shoots at Junior. However, Ben pushes the latter aside and takes the bullet meant for him. After he collapses, Junior pleads to Ben to wake up and apologizes for all the trouble he put him and through, stating he loved him and would do good if he survived. Fortunately, Ben awakes and is unharmed thanks to the petrified prune in his chest pocket, which he had given to Junior earlier. Having overheard Junior's words, he tells him he loves him too and the pair finally accept each other.

Problem Child 2[]

Ben's decision[]

Sometime later, Ben granted Flo the divorce, before he and Junior decide to move to a new town for a fresh start. While driving, Ben expresses nostalgia about his hometown and fond memories until Junior reminds him of the horrible and unfair abuse, he endured from all those who wronged him and Ben realized his point and they need to get away from Cold River happily destroyed property to vent his anger. Leaving the source of his tragic past behind, he and Junior head out while bonding in their travel, with him getting the father and son bond that he always wanted.

The two soon reached Mortville, where they moved into a new house and Ben found himself the object of affection from several beautiful women, because of his new singlehood. That night, he is surprised when his father arrives after tracking him down. Big Ben says he is on vacation and wants to spend it with Ben. However, Ben brings up his father’s hatred of him and the latter is forced to admit that he is broke, to Ben's shock. Ben brings up how he saw his dad on nonstop infomercials selling Big Ben franchises, and Big Ben admits the franchises flopped, as he only got one franchisee. Ben reluctantly decides to take his father in, since he owes him for a good home life and bribing the dean at his college to keep him in school.

When Junior returns from school, Ben asks him how his first day went and is pleasantly amazed that Junior got promoted to sixth grade. As they walked away, one of the school bullies who Junior accosted earlier drops a school satellite on his head, while aiming for Junior. Ben survived but he was left drowsy and fell unconscious, before he was sent to the nurse's office. He awoke to the

Actors[]

John Ritter (1-2)
William Katt (3)
Mark L. Taylor (Voice actor in animated series)

Family[]

Ben "Big Ben" Healy Sr. (father)
Florence "Flo" Healy (ex-wife)
Junior Healy (adoptive son)
Annie Young (girlfriend/fiancée)
Sarah Gray (Second wife; non-canon)

Trivia[]

John Ritter would go on to marry Amy Yasbeck who portrayed Flo Healy in the first film & Annie Young in Problem Child 2 in real life, having a child and being together up until his death in 2003.