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

• 2026Aprender a Caer — In Memory Of
• 2025Jack Paints It Red — Music
• 2025The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld
• 2025The Legend of the Happy Worker — Executive Producer
• 2025Tríptico — Thanks
• 2022The Fabelmans — John Ford
• 2022The Other Me — Executive Producer
• 2021Faraway Eyes — Thanks
• 2021Morceaux de Cannes
• 2019A Talk with Kyle MacLachlan and Sheryl Lee — Executive Producer
• 2019The Original Image - David Lynch
• 2018Ant Head — Music, Writer, Cinematography, Editor, Producer, Sound, Director
• 2018Curtains Up
• 2018Waiting for Mr. Lynch — Director, Writer, Producer
• 2017Girlfriend's Day — Narrator (voice)
• 2017Lucky — Howard
• 2017Night Ride — Music
• 2017The Black Ghiandola — Man In Black
• 2017WHAT DID JACK DO? — Detective, Director, Music, Sound Designer, Set Designer, Set Decoration, Sound Mixer, Writer, Editor
• 2016Kitsune — Thanks
• 2016Psychogenic Fugue — Creative Consultant
• 2016Shadows of Paradise
• 2015Fire (Pożar) — Director, Writer
• 2015Land of Nothing — Executive Producer
• 2014Duran Duran: Unstaged — Director
• 2014My Beautiful Broken Brain — Self, Executive Producer
• 2014Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces — Gordon Cole, Director, Writer, Editor, Characters, Sound Mixer
• 2013Idem Paris — Director
• 201220 Little Films — Director
• 2012Change Begins Within — Writer
• 2012Meditation, Creativity, Peace — Self, Writer
• 2012Memory Film — Director
• 2011Blue Velvet: The Lost Footage — Writer, Director
• 2011Interpol: I Touch a Red Button — Director
• 201042 One Dream Rush — Director
• Louie — Jack Dall
• 2010My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done — Executive Producer
• 2010Readymade, Emile Reynaud et la peinture s'anima — Set Designer
• 2010When Lynch Met Lucas
• Interview Project — Creator
• 2009Red Fish — O Sábio
• The Cleveland Show — Gus (voice)
• 2009The Peaceline Project — Executive Producer
• 2009The Way of Samodelkin — Stranger in a dream
• 2008Early Experiments — Director of Photography, Writer, Producer, Editor
• 2008Hollyshorts Greeting — Himself, Director
• 2008Surveillance — Executive Producer
• 2008Twin Peaks Festival Greeting 2008 — Self, Producer, Writer, Director
• 2007Ballerina — Director, Cinematography, Producer, Writer
• 2007Dynamic:01: The Best of DavidLynch.com — himself, Director, Executive Producer
• 2007More Things That Happened — Director, Writer, Director of Photography, Editor
• 2007Out Yonder — Chicken — Director
• 2007The Sound of Lynch
• 2007To Each His Own Cinema — Director
• 2006Inland Empire — Bucky J, the gaffer (voice), Director of Photography, Producer, Editor, Sound Designer, Sound Re-Recording Mixer, Camera Operator, Writer
• Robot Chicken — Mad Scientist (voice)
• 2005What Is It? — Thanks
• 2004Bug Crawls — Director
• 2004Intervalometer Experiments — Director
• 2004Love, Death, Elvis & Oz: The Making of Wild at Heart
• 2003Boat — The Man, Director, Writer
• 2003Cabin Fever — Thanks
• 2003Does That Hurt You? — Self, Sound, Writer
• 2003Lamp — Self, Director of Photography, Producer
• 2003Out Yonder — Teeth — Director
• 2002BlueBob Egg — Billy Groper, Director, Writer, Producer, Cinematography
• 2002Coyote #1 — Cinematography, Producer, Editor, Director, Writer
• 2002Darkened Room — Writer, Director, Producer, Cinematography, Editor
• 2002Dead Mouse with Ants — Producer, Cinematography, Writer, Director
• 2002I Don't Know Jack — Self, Presenter
• 2002Industrial Soundscape — Director
• 2002Out Yonder — Neighbor Boy — Director
• 2002Pierre and Sonny Jim — Director
• 2002Rabbits — Director, Screenplay
• Rabbits — Director, Writer, Creator
• 2002Steps — Director
• 2002The Disc of Sorrow Is Installed — Writer, Producer, Director
• 2002The Pig Walks — Writer, Editor, Cinematography, Producer, Director
• 2002The Short Films of David Lynch — Self, Director, Writer, Producer, Sound Director
• DumbLand — Randy / Wife / Sparky (voice), Writer, Producer, Editor, Director of Photography, Animation, Creator
• 2001Eraserhead Stories — Self, Director
• 2001Factory Mask — Producer, Cinematography, Writer, Director
• 2001Head with Hammer — Writer, Editor, Producer, Director
• 2001Mulholland Drive — Director, Writer, Sound Designer, Sound Re-Recording Mixer
• 2001Sunset #1 — Director
• Family Guy — Gus (voice), David Lynch (voice)
• 1999The Straight Story — Director, Sound Designer
• 1997Lost Highway — Sound Designer, Director, Sound Re-Recording Mixer, Writer
• 1997Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch — Self, Music, Still Photographer
• 1995Lumière & Company — Self, Director
• 1995Nadja — Morgue Receptionist, Executive Producer
• 1995Premonitions Following an Evil Deed — Director
• Hotel Room — Executive Producer, Sound Designer, Director, Creator
• 1993Michael Jackson: Dangerous - The Short Films — Director
• 1993Twin Peaks: Log Lady Introductions — Director, Writer
• On the Air — Director, Writer, Executive Producer, Creator
• 1992Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me — Gordon Cole, Director, Writer, Original Series Creator, Executive Producer, Sound Designer, Sound Re-Recording Mixer, Characters
• 1992Twin Peaks: Visual Soundtrack — Music Producer, Creator, Lyricist
• 1991The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez — Executive Producer
• 1991The King of Ads — Director
• American Chronicles — Producer
• 1990Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted — Director, Producer, Music
• Twin Peaks — Gordon Cole, Writer, Director, Executive Producer, Story, Sound Designer, Additional Editor, Creator
• 1990Wild at Heart — Screenplay, Director
• Cinéma, de notre temps — David Lynch
• 1989Twin Peaks — Director, Writer, Executive Producer
• 1988No Frank in Lumberton — Self, Music
• 1988The Cowboy and the Frenchman — Director, Writer
• 1988The French as Seen by… — Director
• 1988Zelly & Me — Willie
• 1986Blue Velvet — Director, Writer
• 1984Dune — Spice Miner (uncredited), Director, Screenplay
• 1980Heart Beat — Painter (uncredited)
• 1980The Elephant Man — Man in the Bowler Hat in the Mob Chasing Merrick (uncredited), Director, Screenplay, Sound Designer
• 1977Eraserhead — Production Design, Art Direction, Screenplay, Producer, Original Music Composer, Special Effects, Editor, Sound Effects, Director
• 1974The Amputee — The Nurse, Director, Producer, Writer
• 1972In Pursuit of Treasure — Set Painter
• 1970The Grandmother — Director, Script, Screenplay, Camera Operator, Animation, Writer, Producer
• 1969The Alphabet — Director, Writer, Sound, Animation, Director of Photography, Editor
• 1967Absurd Encounter with Fear — Director
• 1967Sailing with Bushnell Keeler — Camera Operator, Director
• 1967Six Men Getting Sick — Director, Producer, Editor, Cinematography, Animation
• A Fall from Grace — Executive Producer
• Hyena — Executive Producer
• Interior Dining Room Window — Director, Sound, Producer
• Interview Project — Director
• Mulholland Dr. — Director, Writer, Creator
• Snootworld — Writer
• The Sea Behind Her Head — In Memory Of

Appearances as themselves (93)

• 2026I Know Catherine, the Log Lady — Self
• Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man! — Self - Filmmaker
• 2026What Would David Lynch Do? — Self (Archived Footage)
• 2025David Lynch: A Remembrance Both Wonderful and Strange — Self (archive footage)
• 2024Beatles '64 — Self
• 2023Lynch/Oz — Self (archival footage)
• 2022This Is Sparklehorse — Self
• 2021Moby Doc — Self
• 2021The Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune — Self (voice) (archive footage)
• This Is Pop — Self (archive footage)
• 2021Welcome Home: Mary Reber and the Twin Peaks Palmer House — Self
• 2020David Lynch: The Virtual Life — himself
• 2020Meeting the Beatles in India — Self
• 2019David Lynch Teaches Creativity and Film — Himself
• 2019Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound — Self
• 2018Why Are We Creative? — Self
• 2017A Bloody Finger in Your Mouth — Self
• 2017A Pot of Boiling Oil — Self
• 2017A Very Lovely Dream: One Week in Twin Peaks — Self
• 2017Bad Binoculars — Self
• 2017Behind the Red Curtain — Self
• 2017David Lynch: Insight — Self
• 2017David Lynch: The Art Life — Self
• 2017Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers — Self
• 2017I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun — Self
• 2017Plankton Salesmen — Self (archive footage)
• 2017Rocksteppy — Himself
• 2017See You on the Other Side Dear Friend — Self
• 2017Tell It Martin — Self
• 2017The Man with the Gray Elevated Hair — Self
• The Nineties — Self (archive footage)
• 2017The Number of Completion — Self
• 2017The Polish Accountant — Self
• 2017Two Blue Balls — Self
• 2016Along for the Ride — Self
• 2016Blue Velvet Revisited — Self
• 2016Night Flight: Born Again — Self
• 2016On Meditation — Self
• 2016The Music of David Lynch — Self
• 2016The Reality of Truth — Self
• 2015Brand: A Second Coming — Self
• 2015Rammstein in Amerika — Self
• 2014Between Two Worlds — Self
• 2014It's a Beautiful World — Self
• 2014Ringo Starr: A Lifetime of Peace and Love — Self
• 2014The 8th Floor — Self
• 2013Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction — Self
• 2013Mel Brooks: Make a Noise — Self
• 2013Professor Goudet's Lessons — Self
• 2013What Is Cinema? — Self
• 2012Side by Side — Self
• 2011Ångesthunden och Malmö under vatten — Himself
• 20102012: Time for Change — Self
• 2010Brunes et Blondes — Self
• 2010David Lynch in Oslo — Self
• 2010David Wants to Fly — Self
• 2009Great Directors — Self
• 2009La Traversée du désir — Self
• 2009The Soul Detective — Himself
• 2008Critic — Self (voice)
• 2008Elvis | Viva Las Vegas — Self
• 2007A Slice of Lynch — Self
• 2007Donovan: The Donovan Concert - Live in L.A. — Himself
• 2007Lynch (one) — Self
• 2007Lynch 2 — Self
• Legends — Self
• 2006Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream — Self
• 2005David Lynch: 1985 — Self
• 2004Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments — Self
• Leçon de Cinéma — Self
• 2004The Making of ‘Mulholland Drive’ — Self
• 2003Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die) — Self
• 2003Return to Mulholland Drive — Self
• Un film et son époque — Self
• 2002Heart of the Festival — Self (archive footage)
• 2002Mysteries of Love — Self (archive footage)
• 2001Dino De Laurentiis: The Last Movie Mogul — Self
• 1999In Dreams: The Roy Orbison Story — Self
• Independent Focus — Self
• Scene by Scene — Self
• 1996The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money — Self
• 1994Don Van Vliet: Some YoYo Stuff — Himself
• 1993Made in the USA — Self
• The Tonight Show with Jay Leno — Self
• 1991Crazy About the Movies: Dennis Hopper — Self
• 1990Hollywood Mavericks — Self
• 1990Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch — Self
• 1989David Lynch: Don't Look at Me — Self
• 1988Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night — Self - Audience Member
• 1987Ruth, Roses, and Revolver — Himself
• 1983Destination Dune — Self
• Film '72 — Self
• The Oscars — Self