David Lynch
- Directing
- January 20, 1946 · Missoula, Montana, USA
- January 16, 2025
Biography
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Lynch received critical acclaim for his films, which are often distinguished by their surrealist, dreamlike qualities. In his 58-year career, he was awarded numerous accolades, including the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2006 and an Honorary Academy Award in 2019. In 2007, a panel of critics convened by The Guardian announced that "after all the discussion, no one could fault the conclusion that David Lynch is the most important filmmaker of the current era." Lynch studied painting before he began making short films in the late 1960s. His first feature-length film was the independent surrealist film Eraserhead (1977), which saw success as a midnight movie. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for the biographical drama The Elephant Man (1980) and the mystery films Blue Velvet (1986) and Mulholland Drive (2001). His romantic crime drama Wild at Heart (1990) won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He also directed the space opera adaptation Dune (1984), the surrealist neo-noir Lost Highway (1997), the biographical drama The Straight Story (1999), and the experimental film Inland Empire (2006). Lynch and Mark Frost created the ABC series Twin Peaks (1990–91), for which Lynch was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. Lynch co-wrote and directed its film prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), and its limited series revival (2017). He has also worked as an actor, including his portrayals of FBI agent Gordon Cole in Twin Peaks and director John Ford in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans (2022), as well as guest roles in TV series such as The Cleveland Show (2010–13), Louie (2012), and Robot Chicken (2020, 2022). Lynch's other artistic endeavours included his work as a musician, encompassing the studio albums BlueBOB (2001), Crazy Clown Time (2011), and The Big Dream (2013), as well as painting and photography. He has written the books Images (1994), Catching the Big Fish (2006), and Room to Dream (2018). He has directed several music videos for artists such as Chris Isaak, X Japan, Moby, Interpol, Nine Inch Nails, and Donovan, and commercials for Calvin Klein, Dior, L'Oreal, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, and the New York City Department of Sanitation. A practitioner of Transcendental Meditation (TM), he founded the David Lynch Foundation, which seeks to fund the teaching of TM in schools and has since widened its scope to other at-risk populations, including the homeless, veterans, and refugees.
Known for
Filmography
- Aprender a Caer · In Memory Of
- I Know Catherine, the Log Lady · Self
- Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! · Self
- What Would David Lynch Do? · Self
- Solitary · Thanks
- The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld
- The Legend of the Happy Worker · Executive producer
- Jack Paints It Red · Music
- David Lynch: A Remembrance Both Wonderful and Strange · Self
- Tríptico · Thanks
- Beatles '64 · Self
- Lynch/Oz · Self
- The Fabelmans · John Ford
- This Is Sparklehorse · Self
- The Other Me · Executive producer
- The Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune · Self
- Faraway Eyes · Thanks
- Morceaux de Cannes
- Moby Doc · Self
- Welcome Home: Mary Reber and the Twin Peaks Palmer House · Self
- This Is Pop · Self
- David Lynch: The Virtual Life · Self
- Meeting the Beatles in India · Self
- A Talk with Kyle MacLachlan and Sheryl Lee · Executive producer
- Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound · Self
- The Original Image - David Lynch
- David Lynch Teaches Creativity and Film · Self
- Waiting for Mr. Lynch · Director, Writer
- Ant Head · Music, Cinematography
- Curtains Up
- Why Are We Creative? · Self
- The Polish Accountant · Self
- Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers · Self
- The Number of Completion · Self
- See You on the Other Side Dear Friend · Self
- Tell It Martin · Self
- I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun · Self
- A Pot of Boiling Oil · Self
- Two Blue Balls · Self
- Behind the Red Curtain · Self
- Bad Binoculars · Self
- A Bloody Finger in Your Mouth · Self
- The Man with the Gray Elevated Hair · Self
- A Very Lovely Dream: One Week in Twin Peaks · Self
- WHAT DID JACK DO? · Detective, Director
- Plankton Salesmen · Self
- Lucky · Howard
- Night Ride · Music
- The Nineties · Self
- The Black Ghiandola · Man In Black
- David Lynch: The Art Life · Self
- David Lynch: Insight · Self
- Girlfriend's Day · Narrator (Voice)
- Rocksteppy · Self
- Along for the Ride · Self
- Kitsune · Thanks
- Shadows of Paradise
- Blue Velvet Revisited · Self
- Psychogenic Fugue · Creative Consultant
- On Meditation · Self
- The Reality of Truth · Self
- Night Flight: Born Again · Self
- The Music of David Lynch · Self
- Rammstein in Amerika · Self
- Land of Nothing · Executive producer
- Fire (Pożar) · Director, Writer
- Brand: A Second Coming · Self
- My Beautiful Broken Brain · Self, Executive producer
- Between Two Worlds · Self
- Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces · Gordon Cole, Director
- The 8th Floor · Self
- It's a Beautiful World · Self
- Duran Duran: Unstaged · Director
- Ringo Starr: A Lifetime of Peace and Love · Self
- Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction · Self
- What Is Cinema? · Self
- Mel Brooks: Make a Noise · Self
- Professor Goudet's Lessons · Self
- Idem Paris · Director
- Memory Film · Director