Ellen's Agony As Frail Dad, 91, Fights For Life

ELLEN DeGeneres is hiding a heartbreaking secret — she’s had to move her dying dad Elliott into an elder care facility after he fell and broke his hip!

The 58-year-old talk show star had been footing the nearly $2,000-a-month rental for the La Jolla, Calif., apartment where ailing Elliott, 91, and her stepmom Virginia had been living, according to landlord Jon Hoffelt.

But age finally caught up with him and he took a bone-busting fall.

PHOTOS: Ellen & Portia Saving Their Marriage! A Baby Next?

“He broke his hip tripping over the threshold of the door onto the front patio,” Jon says. “It was only an inch-and-a-half high — so you can see that he needed to be cared for.”

After treatment for the break, Ellen “whisked” them away to a nursing facility for expert care.

“I know they’re in an assisted-living facility — but I don’t know which one,” Jon reveals. “No one knows because Ellen is obsessed with keeping things private.”

Jon says Elliott was having difficulty getting around before his tragic fall.

Elliott could often be seen struggling to walk up the steep stairs of the apartment complex, says Jon.

Age also robbed Elliott and Virginia of the ability to clean their apartment. Jon says he found the place “a pigsty” after they moved.

PHOTOS: Ellen Degeneres Buys Brad Pitt’s Ocean Front Pad

Ellen has been much closer to her mom Betty than her dad. The funnygal was crushed at age 12 when her parents split up.