David Lynch, the avant-garde director of films like Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive, as well as the paradigm-shifting TV series Twin Peaks, has died at 78. His influence transcended film, creating a uniquely dark visual narrative language that became known by fellow filmmakers, critics, and fans simply as “Lynchian.” This vision also reached his paintings, books, experiments with music and entrepreneurships.
Lynch’s death was announced by his family on Facebook. “There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us,” they wrote. “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.” While his family didn’t name a cause of death, Lynch announced in 2024 that he that he had been diagnosed with emphysema after a lifetime of smoking. According to Deadline, the director recently took a turn for the worse after having to evacuate his house during the Sunset Fire. In the wake of his passing, it’s only natural to take a look back at his prolific career and the impact he has had and continues to have in film, TV, and the arts as a whole.
Born on January 20, 1946, in Missoula, Montana, Lynch jumped into the movie scene in 1977 with his debut film, Eraserhead. The macabre tone and subject matter turned it into a cult film among the midnight movie circuit. His breakthrough came with The Elephant Man (1980), a dark tale about a sideshow “freak” in Victorian England. This film earned him the first of his four nominations for Best Director at the Academy Awards.
Lynch has long been renowned for his evocative, brooding creative vision, which mixed elements of surrealism with film noir and horror to create experimental narrative structures that inspired audiences to create their own meanings. There doesn’t seem to be an absolute consensus as to what is Lynch’s masterpiece—experts are divided between Blue Velvet (1986), a film that challenged the façade of the American Dream of the 80s; Twin Peaks (1990), the haunting TV series that would become a cornerstone for modern prestige television; and Mulholland Drive (2001), a neo-noir mystery that explores the dangerous allure of Hollywood and which earned Lynch the Best Director award at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.
In 2020, the auteur received an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement. A couple of years later, he made his final appearance in a film in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, where he played director John Ford. “I loved David’s films,” Spielberg said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and Elephant Man defined him as a singular, visionary dreamer who directed films that felt handmade. The world is going to miss such an original and unique voice. His films have already stood the test of time and they always will.”
Following his death, tributes started pouring in quickly. Movie theaters around the world changed their marquees in his honor, and former collaborators expressed how much Lynch had meant to them.
“It wasn’t just his art that impacted me—his wisdom, humor, and love gave me a special sense of belief in myself I’d never accessed before,” Naomi Watts, one of the stars of Mulholland Drive, wrote on Instagram. “Every moment together felt charged with a presence I’ve rarely seen or known. Probably because, yes, he seemed to live in an altered world, one that I feel beyond lucky to have been a small part of. And David invited all to glimpse into that world through his exquisite storytelling, which elevated cinema and inspired generations of filmmakers across the globe.”
Kyle MacLachlan, who appeared in so many of Lynch’s projects that he became known as his “alter-ego” or his “stand-in,” thanked him for propelling his career, and mourned his dear friend. “What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to,” the actor shared. “While the world has lost a remarkable artist, I’ve lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own.”
David Lynch, the avant-garde director of films like Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive, has died at 78.
His influence transcended film as he created a uniquely dark visual narrative language that became known by fellow filmmakers, critics, and fans simply as “Lynchian.”
Lynch has long been renowned for his evocative, brooding creative vision, which mixed elements of surrealism with film noir and horror to create experimental narrative structures.
Following his death, movie theaters around the world changed their marquees in his honor.
❤️ pic.twitter.com/RZekV6JABg
— bkr (@bkrewind) January 16, 2025
RIP to a legend pic.twitter.com/zdsR0mkJjJ
— Kyle Cubr (@kylecubr) January 16, 2025
Fellow filmmakers and stars of his films, such as Naomi Watts and Kyle MacLachlan also paid tribute to him.
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Sources: David Lynch Dies: ‘Twin Peaks’, ‘Blue Velvet’, ‘Elephant Man’ & ‘Eraserhead’ Visionary Was 78; David Lynch, Maker of Florid and Unnerving Films, Dies at 78; David Lynch, Visionary Director of ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Blue Velvet,’ Dies at 78; Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, James Gunn and More Pay Tribute to David Lynch: He “Inspired So Many of Us”; Kyle MacLachlan on Instagram, Naomi Watts on Instagram, David Lynch on Facebook
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