David Lynch, director of Twin Peaks and Dune, dies at 78 as tributes pour in
David Lynch, the visionary American director known for surreal masterpieces like Twin Peaks, Dune and Blue Velvet, has died aged 78.
His family announced his death in a Facebook post, writing: “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.'”
The acclaimed filmmaker had revealed in 2024 that he was suffering from emphysema after a lifetime of smoking, which had left him largely housebound and unable to direct.
Lynch’s distinctive style melded elements of horror, film noir and classical European surrealism, creating a unique artistic vision that revolutionised both American cinema and television.
His groundbreaking television series Twin Peaks in 1990 transformed American TV, introducing surreal elements and taboo subjects into mainstream programming through the story of a murdered high school girl in a Washington lumber town.
Lynch’s 1986 film Blue Velvet established his mature style, plunging viewers into the dark psychosexual underbelly of small-town America.
Mulholland Drive, released in 2001, became one of his most acclaimed works, earning him a best director award at Cannes. The noir-style mystery was later voted the best film of the 21st century.
His unique narrative approach influenced countless successors, from Wild Palms to True Detective, with his distinctive stylistic fingerprints visible across modern television.
The director remained consistently reticent about explaining his work’s meaning, preferring to let audiences unravel his complex mysteries for themselves.
Lynch began his career as an art student making experimental films, with his breakthrough coming in 1977 with Eraserhead, a disturbing midnight movie circuit success.
His talent caught the attention of Mel Brooks’ production company, leading to The Elephant Man in 1980, which earned eight Academy Award nominations, including his first for best director.
Despite the commercial failure of his 1984 science fiction epic Dune, Lynch rebounded with Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, the latter winning the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1990.
Throughout his career, Lynch received three Academy Award nominations for best director, for Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man and Mulholland Drive.
In 2019, he was awarded an honorary lifetime achievement Oscar, recognising his unique contribution to cinema.
Beyond filmmaking, Lynch was a dedicated practitioner of transcendental meditation, establishing the David Lynch Foundation in 2005 to promote the Eastern practice.
He maintained an eclectic creative output, exhibiting paintings internationally and releasing multiple albums of music, including collaborations with artists like Julee Cruise and Karen O.
In his later years, Lynch focused on music videos and composition, whilst lending his name to the David Lynch Graduate School of Cinematic Arts and a line of coffee beans.
He explained his reclusive lifestyle to The Guardian in 2018, saying: “I like to make movies. I like to work. I don’t really like to go out.”
Lynch was married four times and is survived by two daughters and two sons.
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Taking to social media, fans expressed their sadness over the news, with tributes flooding in just minutes after the announcement.
“Rest in peace David Lynch,” one fan wrote on X.
“Another great one gone. RIP David Lynch,” a second shared.
“GOD TAKE ME INSTEAD WHY DID DAVID LYNCH HAVE TO F***ING DIE WTF,” another passionate fan added.
“Rip David Lynch. Impossible not to love that man and his crazy imagination. We lost a good one,” someone else shared.
“Rest in peace to one of the last true pure artists in Hollywood. David Lynch was a pure legend; the living definition of one,” another commented.
“RIP to an icon David Lynch,” one more posted. (sic)