David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 15, 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.
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Dynamic:01: The Best of DavidLynch.com
himself
2025

David Lynch: A Hollywood Enigma
Self - Director
2025

The Making Of A Mockumentary
Himself (archive footage)
2025

I Know Catherine, the Log Lady
Self
2025

David Lynch: A Remembrance Both Wonderful and Strange
Self (archive footage)
2025

Encholalia
Self (Archive Footage)
2025

Beatles '64
Self
2024

The Fabelmans
John Ford
2022

This Is Sparklehorse
Self
2022

The Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune
Self (voice) (archive footage)
2021

Moby Doc
Self
2021

Welcome Home: Mary Reber and the Twin Peaks Palmer House
Self
2021

This Is Pop
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
2021

David Lynch: The Virtual Life
himself
2020

Meeting the Beatles in India
Self
2020

A Fall from Grace
William Tabb
2020

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Self
2019

The Original Image - David Lynch
2019

David Lynch Teaches Creativity and Film
Himself
2019

Curtains Up
2018

Why Are We Creative?
Self
2018

Twin Peaks: The Phenomenon
Self
2017

Tell It Martin
Self
2017

The Polish Accountant
Self
2017

The Number of Completion
Self
2017

See You on the Other Side Dear Friend
Self
2017

Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers
Self
2017

Bad Binoculars
Self
2017

Two Blue Balls
Self
2017

A Very Lovely Dream: One Week in Twin Peaks
Self
2017

Behind the Red Curtain
Self
2017

A Bloody Finger in Your Mouth
Self
2017

I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun
Self
2017

A Pot of Boiling Oil
Self
2017

The Man with the Gray Elevated Hair
Self
2017

WHAT DID JACK DO?
Detective
2017

Plankton Salesmen
Self (archive footage)
2017

Lucky
Howard
2017

The Nineties
Self (archive footage) · (1 episode)
2017

The Black Ghiandola
Man In Black
2017

David Lynch: The Art Life
Self
2017

Girlfriend's Day
Narrator (voice)
2017

Rocksteppy
Himself
2017

Along for the Ride
Self
2016

Shadows of Paradise
2016

Blue Velvet Revisited
Self
2016

On Meditation
Self
2016

The Reality of Truth
Self
2016

Night Flight: Born Again
Self
2016
The Music of David Lynch
Self
2016

Rammstein in Amerika
Self
2015

Brand: A Second Coming
Self
2015

My Beautiful Broken Brain
Self
2014

Between Two Worlds
Self
2014

Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces
Gordon Cole
2014

The 8th Floor
Self
2014
It's a Beautiful World
Self
2014

Ringo Starr: A Lifetime of Peace and Love
Self
2014

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
Self
2013

What Is Cinema?
Self
2013

Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
Self
2013

Professor Goudet's Lessons
Self
2013

Memory Film
2012

Meditation, Creativity, Peace
Self
2012

Side by Side
Self
2012

Ångesthunden och Malmö under vatten
Himself
2011

2012: Time for Change
Self
2010

Brunes et Blondes
Self
2010

Louie
Jack Dall · (2 episodes)
2010

David Wants to Fly
2010
When Lynch Met Lucas
2010

The Cleveland Show
(11 episodes)
2009

Red Fish
O Sábio
2009

The Way of Samodelkin
Stranger in a dream
2009

Great Directors
Self
2009

La Traversée du désir
Self
2009

Twin Peaks Festival Greeting 2008
Self
2008

Hollyshorts Greeting
Himself
2008

Early Experiments
2008

Elvis | Viva Las Vegas
Self
2008

Critic
Self (voice)
2008

The Sound of Lynch
2007

A Slice of Lynch
Self
2007

Lynch (one)
Self
2007

Out Yonder — Chicken
2007

Lynch 2
Self
2007
Donovan: The Donovan Concert - Live in L.A.
Himself
2007

Inland Empire
Bucky J
2006

Legends
Self · (1 episode)
2006

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
Self
2006

Edge of Outside
Self (archive footage)
2006

Robot Chicken
Mad Scientist (voice) · (2 episodes)
2005

David Lynch: 1985
Self
2005

Love, Death, Elvis & Oz: The Making of Wild at Heart
2004

Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
Self
2004

The Making of ‘Mulholland Drive’
Self
2004

Leçon de Cinéma
Self · (1 episode)
2004

Boat
The Man
2003

Does That Hurt You?
Self
2003

Lamp
Self
2003

Return to Mulholland Drive
Self
2003

Un film et son époque
Self · (1 episode)
2003

Out Yonder — Teeth
2003

Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)
Self
2003

The Disc of Sorrow Is Installed
2002

I Don't Know Jack
Self
2002

BlueBob Egg
Billy Groper
2002

Mysteries of Love
Self (archive footage)
2002

The Short Films of David Lynch
Self
2002

Out Yonder — Neighbor Boy
2002

DumbLand
Randy / Wife / Sparky (voice) · (8 episodes)
2001

Eraserhead Stories
Self
2001
Dino De Laurentiis: The Last Movie Mogul
Self
2001

In Dreams: The Roy Orbison Story
Self
1999

Family Guy
Gus (voice) · (1 episode)
1999

Family Guy
David Lynch (voice) · (1 episode)
1999

The A-Z of Separating People from their Money
Self
1998
Independent Focus
Self · (1 episode)
1998

Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch
Self
1997

Scene by Scene
Self · (1 episode)
1997

The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money
Self
1996

Nadja
Morgue Receptionist
1995

Don Van Vliet: Some YoYo Stuff
Himself
1994

Made in the USA
Self
1993

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
Gordon Cole
1992

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Self · (1 episode)
1992
Crazy About the Movies: Dennis Hopper
Self
1991

Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch
Self
1990

Hollywood Mavericks
Self
1990

Twin Peaks
Gordon Cole · (17 episodes)
1990

Cinéma, de notre temps
David Lynch · (1 episode)
1989

David Lynch: Don't Look at Me
Self
1989

Zelly & Me
Willie
1988

No Frank in Lumberton
Self
1988

Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
Self - Audience Member
1988

Ruth, Roses, and Revolver
Himself
1987

Dune
Spice Miner (uncredited)
1984

Destination Dune
Self
1983

The Elephant Man
Man in the Bowler Hat in the Mob Chasing Merrick (uncredited)
1980

Heart Beat
Painter
1980

The Amputee
Nurse
1974
The Soul Detective
Himself

Sailing with Bushnell Keeler
1967

The Oscars
Self · (1 episode)
1953