David Lynch
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.
Born: January 20, 1946
Place of Birth: Missoula, Montana, USA
Known For
Filmography
as himself
as Himself (archive footage)
as Self (archive footage)
as Self
as John Ford
as Self
as Self (voice) (archive footage)
as Self
as Self (archive footage)
as himself
as Self
as William Tabb
as Himself
as Self
as Self
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as Self
as Self
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as Detective
as Self (archive footage)
as Howard
as Self (archive footage)
as Man In Black
as Self
as Narrator (voice)
as Himself
as Self
as Self
as Self
as Self
as Self
as Self
as Self
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as Gordon Cole
as Self
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as Self
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as Self
as Himself
as Self
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as Jack Dall
as O Sábio
as Stranger in a dream
as Self
as Self
as Himself
as Self
as Self (voice)
as Self
as Self
as Self
as Bucky J
as Self
as Mad Scientist (voice)
as Self
as Self
as The Man
as Self
as Self
as Self
as Self
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as Billy Groper
as Self (archive footage)
as Randy / Wife / Sparky (voice)
as Self
as Gus (voice)
as David Lynch (voice)
as Self
as Morgue Receptionist
as Himself
as Self
as Gordon Cole
as Self
as Gordon Cole
as David Lynch
as Willie
as Self
as Self - Audience Member
as Himself
as Spice Miner (uncredited)
as Self
as Man in the Bowler Hat in the Mob Chasing Merrick (uncredited)
as Painter (uncredited)
as The Nurse
as The Nurse
as Self