| Doug Walker | |
|---|---|
 Walker at the Grand Rapids Comic-Con in Michigan on November 13, 2022 | |
| Personal information | |
| Born | Douglas Darien Walker November 17, 1981[1] Naples, Italy |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | Northern Illinois University (BA) |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouse |
Robin Poage (m. 2012) |
| Website | channelawesome |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Genre | Film reviews |
| Subscribers | 1.36 million[2] |
| Total views | 1.15 billion[2] |
| Associated acts | |
Last updated: December 7, 2023 | |
Douglas Darien Walker (born November 17, 1981) is an American comedian, film critic, actor, filmmaker, and YouTuber. Walker is best known for creating and starring in the satirical film review web series Nostalgia Critic, wherein the titular character reviews nostalgic media in an angry or profane manner.[3] After an initial run on YouTube, Walker co-created the website That Guy With The Glasses (later merged into Channel Awesome) in 2008, where he and the series gained wider popularity. The site also presented other media critics of whom created similar content, including Lindsay Ellis and Angry Joe. Walker and his series returned to YouTube in 2012.[4][5]
Walker is the son of Barney (b. 1946), a naval officer and musician, and Sandra Ruth (née Polkow) Walker (1947–2016), a therapist.[6] Both parents, as well as Walker's older brother Rob (b. June 5, 1979), would later appear regularly in his videos. Due to his father's career, Walker was born on a naval base in Naples, Italy, and moved frequently as a child, spending parts of his childhood in Rhode Island, Washington, and Jacksonville, Florida before moving to the Chicago, Illinois area in his teen years.
Doug Walker attended and graduated from Northern Illinois University, majoring in mass communication and minoring in visual art, also serving as an editor and cartoonist for the school newspaper.[7]
He is a descendant of German composer Heinrich Schütz.[8]
|
Main article: Nostalgia Critic |
After graduating college, Walker worked as an illustrator and janitor. He started making videos on the then fairly new video sharing site YouTube in his spare time. Although his early "Nostalgia Critic" videos were popular, Walker claims his rise to internet fame first came from the success of his "5 Second Movies" edits. Walker has stated that the Nostalgia Critic character is primarily inspired by Daffy Duck and the Queen of Hearts, as well as by comedians Lewis Black, Stephen Colbert, and Bill Murray.[9]
In 2008, Walker moved his skits from YouTube to independent site That Guy With the Glasses, later renamed Channel Awesome, with videos hosted via Blip.tv.[10] The majority of his skits have since been reuploaded to YouTube, and form a full web series spanning several seasons. Walker now works as a full-time content creator and staff member of Channel Awesome in Chicago, under the leadership of CEO Mike Michaud.[11]
In September 2012, Walker announced that the Nostalgia Critic series would be ending and that he and his brother would create the sketch comedy web series Demo Reel. In January 2013, however, Walker released "The Review Must Go On", a short film announcing that the series would continue. The new incarnation would co-star Malcolm Ray and Rachel Tietz of Demo Reel, playing fictionalized versions of themselves as well as performing in sketches. Tamara Chambers would later join the series following Tietz's departure.[12]
In March 2018, numerous former Channel Awesome contributors and employees accused the company of widespread mismanagement and mistreatment, culminating in the Twitter hashtag #ChangeTheChannel and a Google Doc entitled "Not So Awesome" chronicling the complaints of over 20 contributors.[11][13][14] While many of the allegations were directed at Michaud, former contributor Allison "Obscurus Lupa" Pregler, who had been critical of the site since leaving in 2015,[11][14] said that Doug and Rob Walker were "complicit" and had failed to address complaints about Michaud's behavior.[15][16] Another former contributor, Lindsay Ellis, described filming conditions on the Walker-directed Channel Awesome anniversary films as "grossly unprofessional", lacking film industry standards such as craft services and safety insurance.[16]
Following the allegations and several poorly received statements from Channel Awesome management, many contributors left the site, with only Walker, Brad Jones, and Larry "Guru Larry" Bundy Jr. remaining by the end of April. Walker later acknowledged the controversy in a 2021 interview with Korey Coleman for Double Toasted, admitting that Channel Awesome had gotten "too big", resulting in poor communication among staff and producers, and that he had since been consciously trying to "keep everything closer and more personal".[17]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Kickassia | Nostalgia Critic / Spider Smith / Chester A. Bum / Ask That Guy with the Glasses / Dominic | Also director, editor, executive producer, and writer[18] |
| 2011 | Suburban Knights | Nostalgia Critic / Ask That Guy with the Glasses / Chester A. Bum | Also cinematographer, director, editor, executive producer, and writer[19] |
| 2012 | To Boldly Flee | Nostalgia Critic / General Zodd / Chester A. Bum / Ask That Guy with the Glasses / Himself / Additional Voices | Also camera operator, director, editor, and writer |
| 2013 | Sonic | G.U.N. Soldier | Short film |
| 2014 | Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie | Himself | Cameo |
| 2015 | Atop the Fourth Wall: The Movie | Dominic / Lori Prince / Nostalgia Critic | |
| 2016 | Room Full of Spoons | Himself | Documentary film[20] |
| 2017 | Jesus, Bro! | Samuel Tobinski / Kendrick Tobinski | [21] |
| Disco | Rudy | ||
| 2019 | Another Cinema Snob Movie | Bally Joe | |
| 2022 | Adam Heatherly's Frankenstein! | Professor William Barter | [22] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–present | Nostalgia Critic | Nostalgia Critic / Various | Also director, writer, editor, and producer |
| 2012–2013 | Demo Reel | Donnie DuPre/Doug Walker/Nostalgia Critic | Also director, writer, editor, and producer[23] |
| 2010–present | The Cinema Snob | Nostalgia Critic / Chester A. Bum / Luigi Mario / Christopher Walken's Arm / Ask That Guy with the Glasses | Also writer |
| 2014 | Everything Wrong with... | Himself | Episode: How the Grinch Stole Christmas |
| 2015 | James and Mike Mondays | Himself | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Honest Trailers | Himself | Episode: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of Their Shells (feat. The Nostalgia Critic) |
| 2018–2020 | Cinemassacre | Himself / Nicolas Cage | 6 episodes[24] |
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Nostalgia Critic's The Wall |
|
| Title | Song Details |
|---|---|
| "The Real Chipmunks Movie"[a][b] |
|
Walker has been married to Robin Poage since 2012.[29]
