Category - Movies
David Lynch, ‘Twin Peaks’ and ‘Eraserhead' Director, Dies at 78
David Lynch, the visionary filmmaker behind such cult classics as Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive has died. He was 78.
Lynch’s death was announced in a Facebook post by his family on Thursday afternoon. “It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch,” the statement read. “We would appreciate some privacy at this time. 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.’”
Lynch was an iconic American filmmaker who revolutionized the art and independent film circuit with brazen head-twisters like Eraserhead (1977) and Inland Empire (2006), his final feature. The auteur made a brief foray into big-budget spectacle when he directed a much-maligned 1984 adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. After that, he returned to making films that birthed the adjective “Lynchian,” often used to refer to movies which are purposefully bizarre and enigmatic. Throughout his career, Lynch was thrice nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards: for The Elephant Man (1980); Blue Velvet (1986); and Mulholland Drive (2001).
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In addition to cinema, he also contributed greatly to the advancement of serialized television with Twin Peaks, the comedic neo-noir which aired for two seasons on ABC from 1990–91. After the show was canceled, Lynch twice returned to the universe: in 1992, for the prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me; and again in 2017 with Showtime’s acclaimed limited series Twin Peaks: The Return.
Last year, Lynch revealed he had been diagnosed with emphysema after a lifetime of smoking cigarettes and would likely not direct another film. "I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not," he told Sight & Sound. "It would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold," he continued, adding that he "can only walk a short distance" before needing oxygen.