SAN FRANCISCO, SEPT. 6, 1982 — Mary Martin (Dies at 76 in 5 november 1990) and Janet Gaynor, two of the most famous actresses of their time, were seriously hurt Sunday night in an automobile accident that killed Miss Martin's personal manager and companion. Ben Washer, a longtime friend of Miss Martin and her late husband, Richard Halliday, (Born: Richard Hammond Halliday in Denver, Colorado, USA Died: (age 67) in Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Paul Gregory, Miss Gaynor's husband, was also injured. 

After a Tragic Auto Accident, Mary Martin Heals Wounds of the Body and the Heart

 
The accident occurred about 7:30 Sunday evening when a speeding van hit their taxicab broadside, knocking it into a tree at Franklin street, and California street intersection. The van's driver, Robert Cato, 36, of San Francisco, was arrested and charged with vehicular manslaughter, felony drunken driving, reckless driving, speeding and running a red light. 
Miss Gaynor, 77, the most seriously injured, was reported to be in stable but critical condition at San Francisco General Hospital with the outlook ''very guarded'' after four hours of surgery. 
 
JANET GAYNOR - SNOW WHITE
''The outcome in her case will not be decided for many days,'' said Dr. Frank Lewis, chief of emergency services at the hospital. ''She had multiple trauma and has needed nine pints of blood and she's likely to need more. In a lady her age, the magnitude of the injuries is very critical.'' 
The Academy Award-winning actress had five broken ribs on the right side, six on the left, a right collarbone fracture, multiple pelvic fractures, a ruptured bladder and bleeding around the right kidney. Her breathing was being aided with a ventilator. 
Miss Martin, 68, was in stable but serious condition, according to Leslie Lingass, a hospital spokesman. The actress had fractures to two right ribs and her pelvic bone, as well as contusions to a kidney. A broken rib had punctured her right lung. 
In 1928, Miss Gaynor won the first Academy Award for best actress for her roles in the 1927 films ''Seventh Heaven'' and ''Sunrise'' and the 1928 movie ''Street Angel.'' Before retiring from the screen in 1939, she appeared in numerous other films, including the original ''A Star Is Born,'' ''State Fair,'' ''High Society Blues'' and ''Daddy Longlegs.'' 
Miss Martin, known for her role as Nellie Forbush in the 1949 musical ''South Pacific'' and as Peter Pan in the won three Tony Awards for her work on Broadway and three New York Drama Critics awards. She won an Emmy in 1955 for the television version of ''Peter Pan.'' Her Broadway appearances included ''Leave It to Me,'' in which she sang the show-stopping ''My Heart Belongs to Daddy.'' She also starred in ''One Touch of Venus,'' ''Annie Get Your Gun'' and ''The Sound of Music.'' 
The actor Larry Hagman, Miss Martin's son, flew here from Los Angeles to be with his mother. Mr. Hagman plays ''J.R.'' in the ''Dallas'' television series, Producer Also Injured 
Mr. Gregory, 62, a stage and film producer who married Miss Gaynor in 1965, suffered three right rib fractures and bruises to his right kidney. He was being held in the hospital's intensive care ward because of an irregular heartbeat. Mr. Gregory produced such films as ''The Night of the Hunter'' and ''The Naked and the Dead.'' 
The San Francisco coroner's office said only that Mr. Washer's death was ''due to traumatic injuries.'' Beginning in 1947, after serving as a drama editor for The New York World-Telegram and holding several publicity posts, including publicity director for the filmmaker Samuel Goldwyn, Mr. Washer ran his own publicity agency for a few years. He then worked for Rogers & Cowan in New York before becoming a press agent and manager for Miss Martin. 
Dick Rector, a business associate of Miss Martin, said he believed Mr. Washer was riding beside the cab driver, and that Miss Gaynor was on the right side of the back seat, Miss Martin in the middle and Mr. Gregory on the left. The taxicab was hit on the right side. 'I Just Never Moved Out' 
In a 1976 interview published in The San Francisco Chronicle, Mr. Washer said he went to visit Miss Martin after Mr. Halliday's death ended the couple's 33-year marriage in 1973. 
''I just never moved out,'' he was quoted as saying. ''Mary is not the kind of dame who can be alone.'' Mr. Rector, co-producer of ''Over Easy,'' the television series of which Miss Martin is the co-host with Jim Hart, quoted her as describing Mr. Washer, 76, as ''the oldest living baby sitter for the world's oldest living baby.'' Mr. Rector said Mr. Washer ''managed everything for her.'' Mr. Washer had just returned from moving Miss Martin's furniture into her new condominium in Palm Springs, Fla., where he lived with her. 
Mr. Rector said Jules Power, the producer of the ''Over Easy'' series, had seen Miss Martin in the hospital and that she was aware of what had happened. 
Miss Gaynor and Mr. Gregory had been guests on a segment of the Public Broadcasting Service television series recorded at station KQED here Thursday night. The program appears five days a week on 253 stations.They had stayed over as Miss Martin's guests at her home in the Pacific Heights section of San Francisco. Heading to a Restaurant 
The taxicab had picked up Miss Martin and her friends at her home and was headed east on California Street to go across Nob Hill and down to Grant Street and Chinatown to Kan's Restaurant, according to a spokesman for the Veterans Taxi Company. 
According to witnesses, as the taxi entered the Franklin Point intersection, a van headed north collided broadside with the taxi. Mr. Cato, the van's driver, was jailed after he and his passenger, John McCue, 30, of Oakland, were treated for minor injuries. The police said he had borrowed the van. 
Ronald Drury, 46, the cab driver, was also treated and released last January, tougher drunk-driving laws went into effect in California. The law requires that a first offender pay a fine of $375 and serve two days in jail or have his license suspended for 90 days. 

LARRY HAGMAN was Mary Martin son.
 
Hagman plays (I Dream of Jeannie),and  ''J.R.'' in the ''Dallas'' television series.