HOSPITALIZED. Ben Vereen, 45, versatile entertainer who played Chicken George in the mini-series Roots and won a Tony for his star turn in the Broadway musical Pippin; after being hit by a car while walking along a highway in the middle of the night; in Los Angeles. Six hours earlier, Vereen crashed his Corvette into a tree after falling asleep at the wheel on the same road and was taken in by police for sobriety tests, which he passed. The car that hit Vereen was driven by producer David Foster, who won a Grammy in February for Natalie Cole's Unforgettable album. It was unclear why Vereen was walking on the highway. Vereen's 16-year-old daughter was killed in an auto accident in New Jersey in 1987; he subsequently went into a severe depression and battled alcohol and drug abuse.