David Lynch

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

## 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 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. In November 2024, Lynch told _People_ that he quit smoking in 2022, following his emphysema diagnosis.

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.

### 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)

### Features

|rowspan=2|Year|rowspan=2|Movie|colspan=2|Oscars|colspan=2|BAFTA|colspan=2|Golden Globe|colspan=2|Cannes Film Festival|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|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||

### 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|||

### 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)

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: David Lynch
- **image**: David Lynch (1990).jpg
- **caption**: Lynch in 1990
- **birth name**: David Keith Lynch
- **birth place**: Missoula, Montana, U.S.
- **death place**: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
- **spouse**: Peggy Lentz (1967–1974)
Mary Fisk (1977–1987)
Mary Sweeney (2006)
Emily Stofle (2009–2025)
- **partner**: Isabella Rossellini (1986–1991)
- **children**: 4, including Jennifer Lynch, Jennifer
- **nationality**: American
- **citizenship**: United States
- **education**: School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
- **alma mater**: Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, AFI Conservatory
- **years active**: 1967–2025
- **notable works**: _Twin Peaks_, _Mulholland Drive (movie), Mulholland Drive_, _Blue Velvet (movie), Blue Velvet_, _The Elephant Man (movie), The Elephant Man_, _Eraserhead_