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."
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.
External links
Filmography (Movies)
The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld
Character:
Release Date:23/10/2025
Dynamic:01: The Best of DavidLynch.com
Character:himself
Release Date:18/07/2025
The Making Of A Mockumentary
Character:Himself (archive footage)
Release Date:11/04/2025
I Know Catherine, the Log Lady
Character:Self
Release Date:09/04/2025
David Lynch: A Remembrance Both Wonderful and Strange
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:29/01/2025
Beatles '64
Character:Self
Release Date:24/11/2024
Lynch/Oz
Character:self (archival footage)
Release Date:15/05/2023
The Fabelmans
Character:John Ford
Release Date:11/11/2022
This Is Sparklehorse
Character:Self
Release Date:12/10/2022
The Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune
Character:Self (voice) (archive footage)
Release Date:14/10/2021
Moby Doc
Character:Self
Release Date:28/05/2021
Welcome Home: Mary Reber and the Twin Peaks Palmer House
Character:Self
Release Date:10/03/2021
David Lynch: The Virtual Life
Character:himself
Release Date:01/11/2020
Meeting the Beatles in India
Character:Self
Release Date:09/09/2020
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Character:Self
Release Date:25/10/2019
The Original Image - David Lynch
Character:
Release Date:01/05/2019
David Lynch Teaches Creativity and Film
Character:Himself
Release Date:18/03/2019
Curtains Up
Character:
Release Date:05/10/2018
Why Are We Creative?
Character:Self
Release Date:07/09/2018
This Video of David Lynch Is Not What It Seems
Character:Self
Release Date:24/04/2018
Twin Peaks: The Phenomenon
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
The Polish Accountant
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
The Number of Completion
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
See You on the Other Side Dear Friend
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
Tell It Martin
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
A Pot of Boiling Oil
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
Two Blue Balls
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
Behind the Red Curtain
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
Bad Binoculars
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
A Bloody Finger in Your Mouth
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
The Man with the Gray Elevated Hair
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
A Very Lovely Dream: One Week in Twin Peaks
Character:Self
Release Date:05/12/2017
WHAT DID JACK DO?
Character:Detective
Release Date:08/11/2017
Plankton Salesmen
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:29/10/2017
Lucky
Character:Howard
Release Date:29/09/2017
The Black Ghiandola
Character:Man In Black
Release Date:22/04/2017
David Lynch: The Art Life
Character:Self
Release Date:15/02/2017
Girlfriend's Day
Character:Narrator (voice)
Release Date:24/01/2017
Rocksteppy
Character:Himself
Release Date:01/01/2017
Along for the Ride
Character:Self
Release Date:03/11/2016
Shadows of Paradise
Character:
Release Date:11/10/2016
Blue Velvet Revisited
Character:Self
Release Date:07/10/2016
On Meditation
Character:Self
Release Date:27/07/2016
The Reality of Truth
Character:Self
Release Date:19/07/2016
Night Flight: Born Again
Character:Self
Release Date:10/04/2016
The Music of David Lynch
Character:Self
Release Date:10/04/2016
Rammstein in Amerika
Character:Self
Release Date:25/09/2015
Brand: A Second Coming
Character:Self
Release Date:13/03/2015
My Beautiful Broken Brain
Character:Self
Release Date:21/11/2014
Between Two Worlds
Character:Self
Release Date:29/07/2014
Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces
Character:Gordon Cole
Release Date:16/07/2014
The 8th Floor
Character:Self
Release Date:10/05/2014
It's a Beautiful World
Character:Self
Release Date:21/04/2014
Ringo Starr: A Lifetime of Peace and Love
Character:Self
Release Date:20/01/2014
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
Character:Self
Release Date:11/09/2013
What Is Cinema?
Character:Self
Release Date:06/09/2013
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
Character:Self
Release Date:20/05/2013
Professor Goudet's Lessons
Character:Self
Release Date:06/04/2013
Memory Film
Character:
Release Date:11/12/2012
Meditation, Creativity, Peace
Character:Self
Release Date:15/11/2012
Side by Side
Character:Self
Release Date:19/08/2012
Ångesthunden och Malmö under vatten
Character:Himself
Release Date:01/01/2011
2012: Time for Change
Character:Self
Release Date:08/10/2010
Brunes et Blondes
Character:Self
Release Date:06/10/2010
David Wants to Fly
Character:
Release Date:06/05/2010
When Lynch Met Lucas
Character:
Release Date:13/02/2010
Red Fish
Character:O Sábio
Release Date:16/06/2009
The Way of Samodelkin
Character:Stranger in a dream
Release Date:05/06/2009
Great Directors
Character:Self
Release Date:19/05/2009
La Traversée du désir
Character:Self
Release Date:16/03/2009
The Soul Detective
Character:Himself
Release Date:02/02/2009
Twin Peaks Festival Greeting 2008
Character:Self
Release Date:25/11/2008
Early Experiments
Character:
Release Date:25/11/2008
Hollyshorts Greeting
Character:Himself
Release Date:25/11/2008
Elvis | Viva Las Vegas
Character:Self
Release Date:16/09/2008
Critic
Character:Self (voice)
Release Date:22/01/2008
The Sound of Lynch
Character:
Release Date:31/12/2007
A Slice of Lynch
Character:Self
Release Date:30/10/2007
Lynch (one)
Character:Self
Release Date:26/10/2007
Out Yonder — Chicken
Character:
Release Date:10/09/2007
Lynch 2
Character:Self
Release Date:14/08/2007
David Lynch Cooks Quinoa
Character:Self
Release Date:14/08/2007
Donovan: The Donovan Concert - Live in L.A.
Character:Himself
Release Date:01/04/2007
Inland Empire
Character:Bucky J
Release Date:06/12/2006
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
Character:Self
Release Date:20/06/2006
David Lynch: 1985
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/2005
Love, Death, Elvis & Oz: The Making of Wild at Heart
Character:
Release Date:07/12/2004
Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
Character:Self
Release Date:01/05/2004
The Making of ‘Mulholland Drive’
Character:Self
Release Date:05/04/2004
Boat
Character:The Man
Release Date:23/12/2003
Does That Hurt You?
Character:Self
Release Date:18/10/2003
Lamp
Character:Self
Release Date:09/09/2003
Return to Mulholland Drive
Character:Self
Release Date:17/06/2003
Out Yonder — Teeth
Character:
Release Date:16/04/2003
Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)
Character:Self
Release Date:10/02/2003
The Disc of Sorrow Is Installed
Character:
Release Date:21/06/2002
The Short Films of David Lynch
Character:Self
Release Date:01/06/2002
I Don't Know Jack
Character:Self
Release Date:05/04/2002
BlueBob Egg
Character:Billy Groper
Release Date:25/02/2002
Mysteries of Love
Character:Self (archive footage)
Release Date:24/02/2002
Out Yonder — Neighbor Boy
Character:
Release Date:11/02/2002
Eraserhead Stories
Character:Self
Release Date:06/09/2001
Dino De Laurentiis: The Last Movie Mogul
Character:Self
Release Date:01/04/2001
PlayStation 2: The Third Place
Character:Duckman
Release Date:01/10/2000
In Dreams: The Roy Orbison Story
Character:Self
Release Date:07/10/1999
The A-Z of Separating People from their Money
Character:Self
Release Date:18/10/1998
Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch
Character:Self
Release Date:14/10/1997
The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money
Character:Self
Release Date:17/11/1996
Lumière & Company
Character:Self
Release Date:20/12/1995
Nadja
Character:Morgue Receptionist
Release Date:01/09/1995
Don Van Vliet: Some YoYo Stuff
Character:Himself
Release Date:09/09/1994
Made in the USA
Character:Self
Release Date:25/09/1993
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
Character:Gordon Cole
Release Date:03/06/1992
Crazy About the Movies: Dennis Hopper
Character:Self
Release Date:17/05/1991
Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch
Character:Self
Release Date:19/10/1990
Hollywood Mavericks
Character:Self
Release Date:07/09/1990
David Lynch: Don't Look at Me
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/1989
Zelly & Me
Character:Willie
Release Date:15/04/1988
No Frank in Lumberton
Character:Self
Release Date:19/01/1988
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
Character:Self - Audience Member
Release Date:03/01/1988
Ruth, Roses, and Revolver
Character:Himself
Release Date:20/02/1987
Dune
Character:Spice Miner (uncredited)
Release Date:14/12/1984
Destination Dune
Character:Self
Release Date:01/01/1983
The Elephant Man
Character:Man in the Bowler Hat in the Mob Chasing Merrick (uncredited)
Release Date:09/10/1980
Heart Beat
Character:Painter (uncredited)
Release Date:25/04/1980
The Amputee
Character:The Nurse
Release Date:01/01/1974
The Amputee
Character:The Nurse
Release Date:01/01/1974
Sailing with Bushnell Keeler
Character:
Release Date:01/01/1967
Television Appearances
This Is Pop
Character:Self (archive footage)
The Nineties
Character:Self (archive footage)
Twin Peaks: The Return
Character:FBI Deputy Director Gordon Cole
Louie
Character:Jack Dall
The Cleveland Show
Character:
The Cleveland Show
Character:Gus (voice)
Legends
Character:Self
Robot Chicken
Character:Mad Scientist (voice)
Leçon de Cinéma
Character:Self
Un film et son époque
Character:Self
DumbLand
Character:Randy / Wife / Sparky (voice)
Family Guy
Character:Gus (voice)
Family Guy
Character:David Lynch (voice)
Independent Focus
Character:Self
Scene by Scene
Character:Self
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Character:Self
Twin Peaks
Character:Gordon Cole
Cinéma, de notre temps
Character:David Lynch
The Oscars
Character:Self
Images
