Doug Walker, Nostalgic Critic, Comedian, Bio, Age, Net Worth

Doug Walker, Biography

Doug Walker, or Douglas Darien Walker, is a super-talented guy from the United States who does a lot of cool things like acting, making people laugh, and sharing his thoughts on movies online. He’s best known for his show called Nostalgia Critic, where he humorously reviews old movies and TV shows that many people remember fondly, but he does it in a really funny and sometimes grumpy way. Back in 2008, he helped start a website called That Guy with the Glasses, which later became part of Channel Awesome. This site had other awesome reviewers, too, like Angry Joe and Lindsay Ellis, who made similar fun content. In 2012, Douglas brought his show back to YouTube, and as of 2025, he’s still making episodes, but now he’s a bit calmer and less angry in his reviews.

Doug Walker, Age and Birthday

Darien was born on November 17, 1981, in Naples, Italy. Doug Walker is 43 years old as of 2025.

Doug Walker Parents

Walker is the son of therapist Sandra Ruth (née Polkow) Walker (1947–2016) and naval officer and musician Barney (b. 1946). Later, Walker’s older brother Rob (born in 1979) and both parents would frequently show up in his videos. Walker was born on a naval base in Naples, Italy, because of his father’s work, and he moved around a lot as a child, spending time in Rhode Island, Washington, and Jacksonville, Florida, before settling in the Chicago, Illinois, area when he was a teenager.

Doug Walker, Education

Walker was an editor and cartoonist for the school newspaper while attending and graduating from Northern Illinois University with a major in mass communication and a minor in visual art.

Doug Walker, Nostalgic Critic

Walker worked as a janitor and illustrator after graduating from college. In his free time, he began creating videos for the then-new video-sharing website YouTube. Walker claims that the success of his 5 Second Movies edits was the primary factor in his ascent to online fame, despite the popularity of his early Nostalgia Critic videos. Walker says that the Nostalgia Critic character is built on ideas from some really funny people like Lewis Black, Stephen Colbert, and Bill Murray. He also takes inspiration from cartoon characters like Daffy Duck and the Queen of Hearts. These are the folks who help shape who the Nostalgia Critic is.

Walker transferred his skits from YouTube to That Guy With the Glasses, an independent website that was later rebranded as Channel Awesome. The videos were hosted on Blip.tv. Since then, most of his skits have been reposted to YouTube, where they have been collected into a multi-season web series. Under the direction of CEO Mike Michaud, Walker is currently employed full-time as a content creator and staff member at Channel Awesome in Chicago.

Walker revealed in September 2012 that he and his brother would be developing the sketch comedy web series Demo Reel and that the Nostalgia Critic series would be ending. However, Walker announced the continuation of the series in a short film titled “The Review Must Go On” that was released in January 2013. Malcolm Ray and Rachel Tietz of Demo Reel would co-star in the new version, appearing in sketches and portraying fictionalized versions of themselves. After Tietz left, Tamara Chambers would eventually join the series.

Doug Walker, Wife

Since 2012, Walker has been married to Robin Poage, a therapist and clinical social worker.

Doug Walker, Brother

With the assistance of his brother, Robert “Rob” Walker, who frequently plays the fictional characters “Chart Guy,” a satirical and narrow-minded corporate analyst in a power suit, and “Santa Christ” in Nostalgia Critic skits, Walker first published his media reviews on his own. The Nostalgia Critic skits were merged into the content creation company Channel Awesome after the Walker Brothers faced accusations of copyright infringement for using clips from different movies and TV series. Instead of showing long video clips, they used funny skits and quick jokes to keep things entertaining. Even though Doug Walker doesn’t go out in public as much since the COVID-19 pandemic, he still makes time to meet his fans at conventions and local events.

Doug Walker, Childhood

Barney and Sandra Walker welcomed Douglas Darien Walker into the world on November 17, 1981, in Naples, Italy. Following the conclusion of his father’s deployment, his family moved to the United States. He grew up as a Navy brat, traveling from state to state because of his father’s work, and he became very interested in movies and TV shows during this time. Walker attended Northern Illinois University and majored in communications.

Doug Walker, Comedian

After finishing college, Walker started making money by drawing pictures for a living. In his spare time, he decided to try something new and began making videos on YouTube, which was just starting to get popular. One of his first characters, the Nostalgia Critic, really caught people’s attention. Walker said that he got his ideas for this character from funny people like Lewis Black, Stephen Colbert, and Bill Murray, as well as cartoon characters like Daffy Duck and the Queen of Hearts. During the tough times of the Great Recession in 2008-2009, he moved his funny videos to a different website called That Guy With the Glasses and later to Channel Awesome. Now, many of his skits are back on YouTube, where they’ve been put together into a cool web series with multiple seasons.

Doug Walker, Current Job

Under the direction of CEO Mike Michaud, Walker is currently employed full-time as a content creator and staff member at Channel Awesome in Chicago. Walker also appears in other Channel Awesome videos, such as “Doug Reviews,” “Bum Reviews,” and “Charity Shoutouts,” which are attached to the end credits of Nostalgia Critic skits and feature Walker endorsing a number of foreign charities in an effort to encourage Channel Awesome viewers to donate to them. Walker primarily works with Rob Walker, Tamara Chambers, and Malcolm Ray, another comedian and actor.

Doug Walker, YouTube Channel—Channel Awesome

Over 1.36 million people have subscribed to the “Channel Awesome” YouTube channel. In the last month, the channel received over 6 million views, according to Social Blade. It makes between USD 18.2k and USD 291.7k annually and between USD 1.5k and USD 24.3k each month. To date, the channel has received over 1.1 billion views.

Doug Walker, Net Worth

American YouTuber and content creator Douglas Darien Walker is also referred to online as Doug Walker. His estimated net worth is USD 350k, based on multiple sources.