David Lynch, the groundbreaking director of films and shows including “Twin Peaks” and “Blue Velvet,” has died at the age of 78, his family announced Thursday.
“It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch,” a statement posted to Lynch’s social media reads. “We would appreciate some privacy at this time. There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.’ It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”
Lynch, who would have turned 79 on Monday, revealed in August 2024 that he was diagnosed with emphysema, a chronic lung disease, after years of smoking.
Lynch, who was born in Montana in 1946, was a writer, director and painter who studied at the American Film Institute. He first broke into the movie scene in 1977 when he turned his thesis project into his first feature film “Eraserhead,” a black-and-white surrealist indie film that quickly gained notoriety as a midnight movie.
“Eraserhead” attracted the attention of producer Mel Brooks, who brought Lynch aboard to direct “The Elephant Man,” an adaptation of the life and times of the severely deformed Joseph Merrick, telling the younger director, “You’re a crazy man. You’re hired.”
“The Elephant Man” earned Lynch his first of three Academy Award nominations for best director, followed by “Blue Velvet” in 1986 and “Mulholland Drive” in 2001, the latter also earning Lynch a best director prize at the Cannes Film Festival, where he previously earned the festival’s top prize — the Palme d’Or — for 1990’s “Wild at Heart.”
Lynch also directed the ill-fated 1984 movie adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel “Dune.”
But for many, Lynch’s most famous contribution to pop culture was his collaboration with Mark Frost on ‘s primetime drama “Twin Peaks,” which hooked viewers immediately with its sui generis combination of mystery and quirk, spurring legions to tune in weekly to find out who murdered Laura Palmer, who was played by Sheryl Lee.
The show initially lasted only two seasons in the early ’90s and took home three Golden Globe honors in 1991, including Best TV Series and Best Actor for Kyle MacLachlan. In 2017, the show was revisited to widespread critical acclaim in the Showtime limited series “Twin Peaks: The Return.”
The style of his films coined the term “Lynchian,” referring to the juxtaposition of “surreal or sinister elements with mundane, everyday environments.”
In 2019, Lynch received an honorary Academy Award at the Motion Picture Academy’s Governors Awards, and in 2012, he received honorary degrees from the American Film Institute.
