David Lynch
Born: 1946-01-20 in Missoula, Montana, USA
Died: 2025-01-16
Known For: Directing
Biography
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Lynch received critical acclaim for his films, which are often distinguished by their surrealist, dreamlike qualities. In his 58-year career, he was awarded numerous accolades, including the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2006 and an Honorary Academy Award in 2019. In 2007, a panel of critics convened by The Guardian announced that "after all the discussion, no one could fault the conclusion that David Lynch is the most important filmmaker of the current era." Lynch studied painting before he began making short films in the late 1960s. His first feature-length film was the independent surrealist film Eraserhead (1977), which saw success as a midnight movie. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for the biographical drama The Elephant Man (1980) and the mystery films Blue Velvet (1986) and Mulholland Drive (2001). His romantic crime drama Wild at Heart (1990) won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He also directed the space opera adaptation Dune (1984), the surrealist neo-noir Lost Highway (1997), the biographical drama The Straight Story (1999), and the experimental film Inland Empire (2006). Lynch and Mark Frost created the ABC series Twin Peaks (1990–91), for which Lynch was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards for 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 its limited series revival (2017). He has also worked as an actor, including his portrayals of FBI agent Gordon Cole in Twin Peaks and director John Ford in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans (2022), as well as guest roles in TV series such as The Cleveland Show (2010–13), Louie (2012), and Robot Chicken (2020, 2022). Lynch's other artistic endeavours included his work as a musician, encompassing the studio albums BlueBOB (2001), Crazy Clown Time (2011), and The Big Dream (2013), as well as painting and photography. He has written the books Images (1994), Catching the Big Fish (2006), and Room to Dream (2018). He has directed several music videos for artists such as Chris Isaak, X Japan, Moby, Interpol, Nine Inch Nails, and Donovan, and commercials for Calvin Klein, Dior, L'Oreal, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, and the New York City Department of Sanitation. A practitioner of Transcendental Meditation (TM), he founded the David Lynch Foundation, which seeks to fund the teaching of TM in schools and has since widened its scope to other at-risk populations, including the homeless, veterans, and refugees.
Filmography
2026
- Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! as Self - Filmmaker
- I Know Catherine, the Log Lady as Self
- What Would David Lynch Do? as Self (Archived Footage)
2025
- The Legend of the Happy Worker ... (Executive Producer)
- The Making Of A Mockumentary as Himself (archive footage)
- The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld
- Tríptico ... (Thanks)
- Jack Paints It Red ... (Music)
- David Lynch: A Remembrance Both Wonderful and Strange as Self (archive footage)
2024
- Beatles '64 as Self
2023
- Lynch/Oz as Self (archival footage)
2022
- The Fabelmans as John Ford
- The Other Me ... (Executive Producer)
- This Is Sparklehorse as Self
2021
- This Is Pop as Self (archive footage)
- Faraway Eyes ... (Thanks)
- Morceaux de Cannes
- The Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune as Self (voice) (archive footage)
- Moby Doc as Self
- David Lynch: The Idea Dictates Everything as David Lynch
- Welcome Home: Mary Reber and the Twin Peaks Palmer House as Self
2020
- Meeting the Beatles in India as Self
- David Lynch: The Virtual Life as himself
2019
- Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound as Self
- A Talk with Kyle MacLachlan and Sheryl Lee ... (Executive Producer)
- The Original Image - David Lynch
- David Lynch Teaches Creativity and Film as Himself
2018
- Why Are We Creative? as Self
- Curtains Up
- Ant Head ... (Music)
- Waiting for Mr. Lynch ... (Director)
2017
- The Nineties as Self (archive footage)
- Lucky as Howard
- Plankton Salesmen as Self (archive footage)
- Girlfriend's Day as Narrator (voice)
- The Black Ghiandola as Man In Black
- WHAT DID JACK DO? as Detective
- A Bloody Finger in Your Mouth as Self
- David Lynch: The Art Life as Self
- The Man with the Gray Elevated Hair as Self
- The Number of Completion as Self
- Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers as Self
- Rocksteppy as Himself
- A Very Lovely Dream: One Week in Twin Peaks as Self
- A Pot of Boiling Oil as Self
- Twin Peaks: The Phenomenon as Self
- See You on the Other Side Dear Friend as Self
- Tell It Martin as Self
- The Polish Accountant as Self
- Bad Binoculars as Self
- Two Blue Balls as Self
- Behind the Red Curtain as Self
- I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun as Self
- Night Ride ... (Music)
- David Lynch: Insight as Self
2016
- Blue Velvet Revisited as Self
- The Reality of Truth as Self
- Along for the Ride as Self
- The Music of David Lynch as Self
- Kitsune ... (Thanks)
- On Meditation as Self
- Psychogenic Fugue ... (Creative Consultant)
- Night Flight: Born Again as Self
- Shadows of Paradise
2015
- Rammstein in Amerika as Self
- Brand: A Second Coming as Self
- Land of Nothing ... (Executive Producer)
- Fire (Pożar) ... (Director)
2014
- Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces as Gordon Cole
- Ringo Starr: A Lifetime of Peace and Love as Self
- Duran Duran: Unstaged ... (Director)
- The 8th Floor as Self
- My Beautiful Broken Brain as Self
- Between Two Worlds as Self
- It's a Beautiful World as Self
2013
- What Is Cinema? as Self
- Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction as Self
- Professor Goudet's Lessons as Self
- Mel Brooks: Make a Noise as Self
- Idem Paris ... (Director)
2012
- Side by Side as Self
- 20 Little Films ... (Director)
- Memory Film
- Meditation, Creativity, Peace as Self
2011
- Blue Velvet: The Lost Footage ... (Writer)
- Ångesthunden och Malmö under vatten as Himself
2010
- Louie as Jack Dall
- My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done ... (Executive Producer)
- 42 One Dream Rush ... (Director)
- Brunes et Blondes as Self
- 2012: Time for Change as Self
- David Wants to Fly as Self
- David Lynch in Oslo as Self
- Readymade, Emile Reynaud et la peinture s'anima ... (Set Designer)
- When Lynch Met Lucas
2009
- The Cleveland Show
- La Traversée du désir as Self
- The Way of Samodelkin as Stranger in a dream
- Great Directors as Self
- The Soul Detective as Himself
- Interview Project ... (Creator)
- Red Fish as O Sábio
- The Peaceline Project ... (Executive Producer)
2008
- Surveillance ... (Executive Producer)
- Critic as Self (voice)
- Elvis | Viva Las Vegas as Self
- Early Experiments
- Hollyshorts Greeting as Himself
- Twin Peaks Festival Greeting 2008 as Self
2007
- To Each His Own Cinema ... (Director)
- Lynch (one) as Self
- More Things That Happened ... (Director)
- Lynch 2 as Self
- Ballerina ... (Director)
- A Slice of Lynch as Self
- The Sound of Lynch
- Dynamic:01: The Best of DavidLynch.com as himself
- Out Yonder — Chicken
- Donovan: The Donovan Concert - Live in L.A. as Himself
2006
- Legends as Self
- Inland Empire as Bucky J
- Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream as Self
2005
- Robot Chicken as Mad Scientist (voice)
- What Is It? ... (Thanks)
- David Lynch: 1985 as Self
2004
- Leçon de Cinéma as Self
- Love, Death, Elvis & Oz: The Making of Wild at Heart
- The Making of ‘Mulholland Drive’ as Self
- Bug Crawls ... (Director)
- Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments as Self
- Intervalometer Experiments ... (Director)
2003
- Cabin Fever ... (Thanks)
- Un film et son époque as Self
- Boat as The Man
- Lamp as Self
- Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die) as Self
- Out Yonder — Teeth
- Does That Hurt You? as Self
- Return to Mulholland Drive as Self
2002
- Rabbits ... (Director)
- Rabbits ... (Director)
- Mysteries of Love as Self (archive footage)
- Heart of the Festival as Self (archive footage)
- Coyote #1 ... (Producer)
- I Don't Know Jack as Self
- Darkened Room ... (Director)
- The Short Films of David Lynch as Self
- Dead Mouse with Ants ... (Producer)
- The Pig Walks ... (Writer)
- The Disc of Sorrow Is Installed
- Steps ... (Director)
- BlueBob Egg as Billy Groper
- Pierre and Sonny Jim ... (Director)
- Out Yonder — Neighbor Boy
- Industrial Soundscape ... (Director)
2001
- Mulholland Drive ... (Director)
- DumbLand as Randy / Wife / Sparky (voice)
- Dino De Laurentiis: The Last Movie Mogul as Self
- Eraserhead Stories as Self
- Factory Mask ... (Writer)
- Head with Hammer ... (Editor)
- Sunset #1 ... (Director)
2000
- One Morning All Over the World ... (Director)
1999
- Family Guy as Gus (voice)
- The Straight Story ... (Director)
- In Dreams: The Roy Orbison Story as Self
1998
- Independent Focus as Self
- The A-Z of Separating People from their Money as Self
1997
- Lost Highway ... (Director)
- Scene by Scene as Self
- Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch as Self
1996
1995
- Lumière & Company as Self
- Nadja as Morgue Receptionist
- Premonitions Following an Evil Deed ... (Director)
1994
- Don Van Vliet: Some YoYo Stuff as Himself
1993
- Hotel Room ... (Sound Designer)
- Michael Jackson: Dangerous - The Short Films ... (Director)
- Made in the USA as Self
1992
- The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as Self
- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me as Gordon Cole
- On the Air ... (Writer)
- Twin Peaks: Visual Soundtrack ... (Music Producer)
1991
- The King of Ads ... (Director)
- The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez ... (Executive Producer)
- Crazy About the Movies: Dennis Hopper as Self
1990
- Twin Peaks as Gordon Cole
- Wild at Heart ... (Director)
- American Chronicles ... (Producer)
- Hollywood Mavericks as Self
- Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted ... (Director)
- Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch as Self
1989
- Twin Peaks ... (Director)
- Cinéma, de notre temps as David Lynch
- David Lynch: Don't Look at Me as Self
1988
- Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night as Self - Audience Member
- The Cowboy and the Frenchman ... (Director)
- No Frank in Lumberton as Self
- Zelly & Me as Willie
- The French as Seen by… ... (Director)
1987
- Ruth, Roses, and Revolver as Himself
1986
- Blue Velvet ... (Director)
1984
- Dune as Spice Miner (uncredited)
1983
- Destination Dune as Self
1980
- The Elephant Man as Man in the Bowler Hat in the Mob Chasing Merrick (uncredited)
- Heart Beat as Painter (uncredited)
1977
- Eraserhead ... (Screenplay)
1974
- The Amputee as The Nurse
1972
- In Pursuit of Treasure ... (Set Painter)
1970
- The Grandmother ... (Director)
1969
- The Alphabet ... (Director)
1967
- Sailing with Bushnell Keeler
- Absurd Encounter with Fear ... (Director)
- Six Men Getting Sick ... (Director)
1953
- The Oscars as Self