David Lynch

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)
Other names	Judas Booth
Alma mater	Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (dropped out)
Occupations	Filmmaker painter visual artist musician author actor
Years active	1967–2025
Works	Filmography discography bibliography
Style	Surrealism mystery neo-noir psychological thriller arthouse experimental
Spouses	Peggy Lentz ​ ​ (m. 1968; div. 1974)​ Mary Fisk ​ ​ (m. 1977; div. 1987)​ Mary Sweeney ​ ​ (m. 2006; div. 2007)​ Emily Stofle ​ ​ (m. 2009; sep. 2023)​ [1]
Partner	Isabella Rossellini (1986–1991)
Children	4, including Jennifer
Awards	Full list
David Lynch's voice from a 1982 introduction to Eraserhead.
Signature

This article is part of a series about David Lynch
Personal Early life and work Jennifer Lynch (daughter) Filmography Eraserhead The Elephant Man Dune Blue Velvet Twin Peaks Fire Walk with Me The Missing Pieces The Return Wild at Heart Lost Highway The Straight Story Mulholland Drive Inland Empire Discography Eraserhead BlueBOB The Air Is on Fire Twin Peaks Music: Season Two Music and More Polish Night Music Crazy Clown Time The Big Dream Thought Gang Cellophane Memories Bibliography Images Catching the Big Fish The Air Is on Fire Dark Night of the Soul Genealogies of Pain Room to Dream Characters Dale Cooper Laura Palmer Sheriff Harry Truman Shelly Johnson Donna Hayward Audrey Horne Maddy Ferguson Benjamin Horne Phillip Jeffries Bob Windom Earle Mike Leland Palmer Log Lady The Giant The Man from Another Place / The Arm Tommy Hill Bobby Briggs Frank Booth Related Unrealized projects Accolades received Cultural impact Frequent collaborators David Lynch Foundation
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David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 15, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Considered one of the most important filmmakers of his era, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and was acclaimed for films often distinguished by their surrealist and experimental qualities. In a career spanning more than five decades, he received numerous accolades, including the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2006 and an Honorary Academy Award in 2019. The adjective Lynchian came into use to describe works or situations reminiscent of his art,^[2] with the Oxford English Dictionary noting his penchant for "juxtaposing surreal or sinister elements with mundane, everyday environments, and for using compelling visual images to emphasize a dreamlike quality of mystery or menace".^[3]

Lynch studied painting and made short films before making his first feature-length film, the independent body horror film Eraserhead (1977), which found success as a midnight movie. He then earned critical acclaim as well as nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director for the biographical drama The Elephant Man (1980), the mystery thriller Blue Velvet (1986), and the psychological drama Mulholland Drive (2001). For his romantic crime drama Wild at Heart (1990), he received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He also directed the space opera Dune (1984), the neo-noir Lost Highway (1997), the road movie The Straight Story (1999), and the experimental thriller Inland Empire (2006).

Lynch and Mark Frost created the ABC series Twin Peaks (1990–91), for which he received five Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including 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 a third season in 2017. His acting career included roles in Twin Peaks and in the films Lucky (2017) and The Fabelmans (2022). He also guest-starred in TV series such as The Cleveland Show (2010–13) and Louie (2012). He directed music videos for artists such as X Japan, Moby, Interpol, Nine Inch Nails and Donovan, and commercials for Dior, YSL, Gucci and the New York City Department of Sanitation.

Lynch also worked as a musician, releasing solo albums and a variety of collaborations; a visual artist, including painting, furniture design, and photography; and an author, publishing the books Images (1994), Catching the Big Fish (2006) and Room to Dream (2018). A practitioner of Transcendental Meditation, he founded the David Lynch Foundation to fund meditation lessons for at-risk populations. A lifelong smoker, he died from complications of emphysema after being evacuated from his home due to the 2025 Southern California wildfires.