Barbara's Secret Struggle! 'Gravely' Ill Walters Not Seen In Public For 130 Days
'The View' creator has friends fearing the worst.
Nov. 23 2016, Updated 10:03 a.m. ET
Ailing TV icon Barbara Walters has become a sickly shut in — and friends fear she's already got one foot in the grave!
In an ominous sign of the 87-year-old news legend's shocking decline, Walters was a no-show for a Nov. 11 reunion of the original co-hosts of The View — the daytime chatfest she created.
"There is no way Barbara would have missed the reunion if she wasn't gravely ill," a TV insider told RadarOnline.com. "The reality is she's been in poor health for some time."
Tragically, Walters hasn't been photographed in public for more than 130 DAYS, or since July 13, when she attended the New York premiere of Woody Allen's movie Café Society.
Once a woman-about-town, the Manhattan resident also skipped a scheduled appearance on Sept. 25 for her birthday, of all things.
What's more, RadarOnline.com revealed in August how Walters suffered a MAJOR health scare when she was hospitalized at New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital after "experiencing heart complications."
According to a source, she had "severe anxiety" before going under the knife for a "major plastic surgery overhaul and had a heart crisis."
That setback capped a slew of health woes Walters suffered over the years.
In May 2010, she had heart surgery to correct a faulty valve, and in January 2013 she was knocked out and gashed her head in a nasty fall. Soon after, she was hospitalized for 10 days for chicken pox, forcing her to leave The View for six weeks.
Barbara became the first female co-anchor of a nightly network newscast in 1976, but finally retired in 2014.
After that, she was so shaky during her few appearances on The View pals fretted she may have been suffering early-stage Alzheimer's disease.
"Producers had to spoon-feed Barbara words and the names of guests through an earpiece," tattled one show insider.
"Without the device, she'd be like a blathering idiot!"
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Though her rep denied she is ill, Walters now may be facing her final days, according to top New York internist Dr. Stuart Fischer.
"She's been hit by a very long list of very serious illnesses, which are frightening for someone her age," Dr. Fischer, who has not treated Barbara, told RadarOnline.com.
He claimed, This could be her final chapter."
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