Lynch won acclaim for his strange and dreamlike sequences, and was honored with a lifetime achievement award in 2019.
David Lynch, celebrated for films such as Blue Velvet, The Elephant Man and Mulholland Drive, has died at the age of 78.
Lynch’s family announced his death in a social media post on Thursday, without offering information regarding his cause of death.
“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,’” the post states. “It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”
The acclaimed filmmaker, writer, and artist — who earned three Oscar nominations for best director and one nod for best adapted screenplay — won fame with his unique and captivating visions on screen.
Inspired by a run-down section of Pennsylvania during his time as an art student in the 1960s at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Lynch produced the bizarre, dreamlike film Eraserhead in 1977.
It was his first major feature, and it gained a cult following, with fans including the famed director Stanley Kubrick.
He followed up that debut with The Elephant Man, which explored the life of a man with physical deformities living in Victorian England. The film was nominated for eight Oscar awards. Though it failed to win any, The Elephant Man propelled Lynch to a vaunted position in the US film scene.
His films would come to feature some of the biggest names in Hollywood: Naomi Watts, Dennis Hopper, Laura Dern and Nicolas Cage. In 1990, he branched out into television with the cult classic Twin Peaks, which continued his exploration of the uncanny and neo-noir themes.
Lynch would later earn a Palme d’Or medal at the Cannes film festival in France for his 1990 romantic comedy Wild at Heart.
Lynch, who was days away from turning 79, was given an honourary Academy Award in 2019 for his lifetime achievements. In 2006, he also received a Golden Lion award for his contributions to cinema at the Venice Film Festival.
Upon his death, tributes poured out across social media. Fellow director Ron Howard, for instance, remembered Lynch as a “a gracious man and fearless artist who followed his heart & soul and proved that radical experimentation could yield unforgettable cinema”.
Even journalists chimed in on their experiences interviewing the late director.
“When I interviewed David Lynch, he asked for my address,” Nick Newman, managing editor of the film publication The Film Stage, wrote in a social media post. “A few weeks later this showed up.”
Newman then shared a photo of a coffee mug Lynch had signed.
“He didn’t need to do this. Nobody, among the scores of people I’ve interviewed, has even approached such generosity.”
