David Lynch

David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 15, 2025)^[1] was an American movie director, and actor.

David Lynch
Lynch in 1990
Born	David Keith Lynch (1946-01-20)January 20, 1946 Missoula, Montana, U.S.
Died	January 15, 2025(2025-01-15) (aged 78) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Nationality	American
Citizenship	United States
Education	School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Alma mater	Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, AFI Conservatory
Occupations	Movie director painter visual artist musician author actor
Years active	1967–2025
Notable work	Twin Peaks, Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man, Eraserhead
Style	Surrealism mystery neo-noir thriller arthouse experimental
Spouse(s)	Peggy Lentz (1967–1974) Mary Fisk (1977–1987) Mary Sweeney (2006) Emily Stofle (2009–2025)
Partner	Isabella Rossellini (1986–1991)
Children	4, including Jennifer

Career

Lynch's movies include Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man and Mulholland Drive. He was also responsible for a television series called Twin Peaks, his overall most famous work. Eraserhead, his first movie, is still his most famous theatrical movie. It was recently deemed socially important by the United States Library of Congress. He has done much work with Jack Nance, who has appeared in many of his movies. He has said that all his movies will be done using digital video from now on.

He is also famous for his early short movies. The Alphabet and The Grandmother are two of his best known. The Alphabet is about fear of education. The Grandmother is about a lonely boy who grows a grandmother like a plant from a seed.

Over his career, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations^[2] for Best Director and a nomination for best screenplay. Lynch has twice won France's César Award for Best Foreign Film, as well as the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He also won a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival.

Death

In August 2024, Lynch said he was suffering from emphysema.^[3][4] In November 2024, Lynch told People that he quit smoking in 2022, following his emphysema diagnosis.^[5]

Lynch died on January 15, 2025 at his daughter’s home in Los Angeles, California from cardiac arrest caused by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema at the age of 78.^[6]

Discography

Albums

• BlueBob (with John Neff, 2001)
• The Air is on Fire: Soundscape (2007)
• Polish Night Music (with Marek Żebrowski, 2008)
• Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse: Dark Night of the Soul (2010; Lynch is featured on two songs.)
• This Train (with Chrysta Bell, 2011)
• Crazy Clown Time (2011)

Singles

• "Ghost of Love" (2007)
• "Good Day Today" / "I Know" (2010)

Filmography

Features

Year	Movie	Oscars		BAFTA		Golden Globe		Cannes Film Festival
		Nominations	Wins	Nominations	Wins	Nominations	Wins	Nominations	Wins
1977	Eraserhead
1980	The Elephant Man	8		7	3	4
1984	Dune	1
1986	Blue Velvet	1				2
1990	Wild at Heart	1		1		1		Palme d'Or	Palme d'Or
1992	Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
1997	Lost Highway
1999	The Straight Story	1				2		Palme d'Or
2001	Mulholland Drive	1		2	1	4		Palme d'Or	Best Director
2006	Inland Empire
2006	Maharishi

Short movies

Year	Movie	DVD availability	Blu-ray availability
1966	Six Men Getting Sick	The Short Films of David Lynch	Eraserhead Blu-ray
1967	Absurd Encounter with Fear	The Lime Green Set
1967	Fictitious Anacin Commercial	The Lime Green Set
1968	The Alphabet	The Short Films of David Lynch	Eraserhead Blu-ray
1970	The Grandmother	The Short Films of David Lynch	Wild at Heart Blu-ray
1974	The Amputee	The Short Films of David Lynch	Eraserhead Blu-ray
1988	The Cowboy and the Frenchman	The Short Films of David Lynch
1990	Industrial Symphony No. 1	The Lime Green Set
1995	Premonition Following An Evil Deed	The Short Films of David Lynch	Wild at Heart Blu-ray
2002	Darkened Room	Dynamic 1	Lost Highway Blu-ray
2002	Dumbland		Wild at Heart Blu-ray
2006	Ballerina	Extra on Inland Empire DVD
2007	Absurda
2007	Boat	Dynamic 1	Lost Highway Blu-ray
2007	Bug Crawls	Dynamic 1	Lost Highway Blu-ray
2007	Industrial Soundscape	Dynamic 1
2007	Lamp	Dynamic 1
2007	Out Yonder Neighbor Boy	Dynamic 1
2007	Intervalometer Experiments	Dynamic 1
2008	Scissors	The Lime Green Set
2010	Lady Blue Shanghai
2011	The 3 Rs	Viennale's website[7]

Television series

Year	Series	Episodes
1990–1991	Twin Peaks	30
1992	On the Air	7
1993	Hotel Room	3
2012	Louie	2

Online series

Year	Series	Episodes	Available on DVD
2002	Rabbits	8	The Lime Green Set DVD
2002	Dumbland	8	The Lime Green Set DVD
	Out Yonder		The Lime Green Set DVD
2009	Interview Project Archived 2010-11-19 at the Wayback Machine

Music videos

Year	Song	Musician
1990	"Wicked Game" (movie version)	Chris Isaak
1995	"Longing"	X Japan
1999	"Thank You Judge"	David Lynch
2009	"Shot in the Back of the Head"	Moby
2010	"I Touch A Red Button Man"	Interpol
2011	"Crazy Clown Time"	David Lynch

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards:

• 1980: Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (The Elephant Man, nominated)
• 1987: Best Director (Blue Velvet, nominated)
• 2002: Best Director (Mulholland Dr., nominated)

BAFTA Awards:

• 1981: Best Direction (The Elephant Man, nominated)
• 1981: Best Screenplay (The Elephant Man, nominated)

Cannes Film Festival:

• 1990: Golden Palm (Wild at Heart, won)
• 1992: Golden Palm (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, nominated)
• 1999: Golden Palm (The Straight Story, nominated)
• 2001: Best Director (Mulholland Dr., won Tied with Joel Coen for The Man Who Wasn't There)
• 2001: Golden Palm (Mulholland Dr., nominated)

DGA Award:

• 1981: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (The Elephant Man, nominated)

Emmy Awards:

• 1990: Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music (Twin Peaks, nominated)
• 1990: Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics (Twin Peaks for the song "Into the Night", nominated)
• 1990: Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (Twin Peaks for the pilot episode, nominated)
• 1990: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (Twin Peaks for the pilot episode, nominated)
• 1990: Outstanding Drama Series (Twin Peaks)

Golden Globes:

• 1980: Best Director (The Elephant Man, nominated)
• 1987: Best Screenplay (Blue Velvet, nominated)
• 2002: Best Director (Mulholland Dr., nominated)
• 2002: Best Screenplay (Mulholland Dr., nominated)

Independent Spirit Awards:

• 1987: Best Director (Blue Velvet, nominated)
• 1987: Best Screenplay (Blue Velvet, nominated)
• 2000: Best Director (The Straight Story, nominated)
• 2007: Special Distinction Award (Shared with Laura Dern for their collaborative work, won)

Saturn Awards:

• 1993: Best Writing (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, nominated)
• 1993: Life Career Award (won)
• 2002: Best Director (Mulholland Dr., nominated)

Venice Film Festival:

• 2006: Future Film Festival Digital Award (Inland Empire won)
• 2006: Career Golden Lion (won)

WGA Award:

• 1981: Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium (The Elephant Man, nominated)
• 1987: Best Original Screenplay (Blue Velvet, nominated)