Editing David Lynch (section)

==Illness and death==
In August 2024, Lynch said in an interview that he had been diagnosed with [[emphysema]] in 2020 after a lifetime of smoking and had become housebound due to health risks, which he surmised would likely prevent him from directing any new projects.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/david-lynch-age-movies-emphysema-smoking-b2591296.html |title=David Lynch has emphysema and can no longer 'leave the house' due to Covid fears |last=Stolworthy |first=Jacob |website=[[The Independent]] |date=August 5, 2024 |access-date=August 5, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Pulver |first1=Andrew |title=David Lynch says he is too ill to direct films in person |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/article/2024/aug/05/david-lynch-says-he-is-too-ill-to-direct-films-in-person |access-date=August 5, 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=August 5, 2024}}</ref> Three months later, he told ''[[People (magazine)|People]]'' that he had quit smoking in 2022, having started when he was eight years old; he said he was reliant on supplemental oxygen for most daily activities and could "hardly walk across a room".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Finan |first1=Eileen |date=November 14, 2024 |title=David Lynch Started Smoking at Age 8 — Now He Needs Oxygen to Walk: 'It's a Big Price to Pay' (Exclusive) |url=https://people.com/david-lynch-smoking-at-age-8-now-he-needs-oxygen-copd-exclusive-8743594 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250116212658/https://people.com/david-lynch-smoking-at-age-8-now-he-needs-oxygen-copd-exclusive-8743594 |archive-date=January 16, 2025 |access-date=November 14, 2024 |work=People |language=en}}</ref>

Lynch also said he could no longer leave his house, meaning that he would only be able to direct remotely. He said a project for [[Netflix]], with working titles ''Wisteria'' and ''[[David Lynch's unrealized projects#Unrecorded Night|Unrecorded Night]]'', had fallen through, but that he would like to see his unrealized projects ''[[David Lynch's unrealized projects#Antelope Don't Run No More|Antelope Don't Run No More]]'' and ''[[David Lynch's unrealized projects#Snootworld|Snootworld]]'' realized.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Petri |first=Alexandra E. |date=August 5, 2024 |title=David Lynch Says He Has Emphysema |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/05/arts/television/david-lynch-emphysema-twin-peaks.html |access-date=January 16, 2025 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Harrison |first1=Scoop |date=August 5, 2024 |title=David Lynch Suffers from Emphysema, No Longer Able to Direct |url=https://consequence.net/2024/08/david-lynch-emphysema-directing/ |access-date=August 5, 2024}}</ref> Lynch said that month that he was working on existing projects as much as he could, and that he was in good health except for emphysema, and had no plans to retire.<ref>{{cite news |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=August 5, 2024 |title=David Lynch Says 'I Will Never Retire' In Response To Health Reports |url=https://deadline.com/2024/08/david-lynch-health-covid-1236031810/ |accessdate=August 5, 2024 |work=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref> 

In January 2025, Lynch was evacuated from his Los Angeles home due to the [[January 2025 Southern California wildfires|Southern California wildfires]]. These events preceded a terminal decline in his health,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pedersen |first1=Erik |last2=D'Alessandro |first2=Anthony |date=January 16, 2025 |title=David Lynch Dies: 'Twin Peaks', 'Blue Velvet', 'Elephant Man' & 'Eraserhead' Visionary Was 78 |url=https://deadline.com/2025/01/david-lynch-dead-twin-peaks-blue-velvet-elephant-man-1236258625/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250116194924/https://deadline.com/2025/01/david-lynch-dead-twin-peaks-blue-velvet-elephant-man-1236258625/ |archive-date=January 16, 2025 |access-date=January 16, 2025 |work=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref> and he died at his daughter's home in Los Angeles on the morning of January 16, aged 78.<ref>{{cite news|url = https://deadline.com/2025/02/david-lynch-cause-of-death-revealed-1236282839/|title = David Lynch Cause Of Death Revealed|last = Oganesyan|first = Natalie|date = February 8, 2025|accessdate = February 8, 2025|work = [[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref> His family posted a message reading:

{{Blockquote|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."<ref>{{cite news | title=David Lynch Quotes: 13 of the visionary director's best quotes | last=Jack | first=Lauren | work=[[The Scotsman]] | date=January 17, 2025| url=https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/david-lynch-quotes-4947827}}</ref>}}

His death certificate, publicly reported in February 2025, concluded that the immediate cause of death was cardiac arrest, with [[chronic obstructive pulmonary disease]] cited as the underlying cause. Dehydration was also mentioned as a significant contributor.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Parkel |first1=Inga Parkel |title=David Lynch's cause of death revealed |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/david-lynch-death-cause-cardiac-arrest-b2694405.html |access-date=February 8, 2025 |work=[[The Independent]] |date=February 7, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250208182421/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/david-lynch-death-cause-cardiac-arrest-b2694405.html |archive-date=February 8, 2025 |issn=1741-9743 |oclc=185201487}}</ref> The death certificate said he was cremated, with his ashes buried at [[Hollywood Forever Cemetery]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Harrison |first1=Scoop |title=David Lynch's Cause of Death Revealed |url=https://consequence.net/2025/02/david-lynch-cause-of-death/ |website=[[Consequence (publication)|Consequence]] |access-date=February 8, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250208182826/https://consequence.net/2025/02/david-lynch-cause-of-death/ |archive-date=February 8, 2025 |date=February 7, 2025 |url-status=live}}</ref>

===Tributes===
Lynch's collaborators [[Nicolas Cage]], Laura Dern, Kyle MacLachlan, Naomi Watts, and Ray Wise wrote tributes to him.<ref>{{cite web |last=D'Alessandro |first=Anthony |date=January 16, 2025 |title=Naomi Watts Says 'Mulholland Drive' Director David Lynch 'Put Me On The Map' |url=https://deadline.com/2025/01/naomi-watts-david-lynch-death-1236259323/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250117015520/https://deadline.com/2025/01/naomi-watts-david-lynch-death-1236259323/ |archive-date=January 17, 2025 |accessdate=January 16, 2025 |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Michaela|last=Zee |url=https://variety.com/2025/film/news/kyle-machlachlan-tribute-david-lynch-twin-peaks-1236276263/ |date=January 16, 2025 |title=Kyle MacLachlan Says 'I Owe My Entire Career' and Life to 'Blue Velvet' and 'Twin Peaks' Director David Lynch; Naomi Watts Says 'My Heart Is Broken'|website=[[Variety (magazine)| Variety]] |accessdate=January 16, 2025}}</ref> MacLachlan honored Lynch with a tribute in ''The New York Times.''<ref name=MacLachlan>{{Cite news |last=MacLachlan |first=Kyle |author-link=Kyle MacLachlan |date=2025-01-19 |title=Opinion {{!}} Kyle MacLachlan: How David Lynch Invented Me |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/19/opinion/kyle-maclachlan-david-lynch.html |access-date=2025-01-29 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> He wrote: "I was willing to follow him anywhere because joining him on the journey of discovery, searching and finding together, was the whole point. I stepped out into the unknown because I knew David was floating out there with me... I will miss my dear friend. He has made my world—all of our worlds—both wonderful and strange".<ref name=MacLachlan/> The [[WGAw|WGA]] announced that MacLachlan would posthumously give Lynch the [[Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Lynch to Posthumously Receive WGAW's 2025 Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement |url=https://www.wga.org/news-events/news/press/david-lynch-to-posthumously-receive-wgaw-2025-laurel-award-for-screenwriting-achievement |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=www.wga.org |language=en}}</ref>

Steven Spielberg wrote of directing Lynch in ''The Fabelmans'': "Here was one of my heroes—David Lynch—playing one of my heroes [...] The world is going to miss such an original and unique voice. His films have already stood the test of time and they always will."<ref>{{cite web |last=Shafer |first=Ellise |date=January 16, 2025 |title=Steven Spielberg Honors David Lynch as Hollywood Mourns a Film Icon: 'The World Is Going to Miss Such an Original and Unique Voice' |url=https://variety.com/2025/film/news/david-lynch-remembered-steven-spielberg-1236276104/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250116221206/https://variety.com/2025/film/news/david-lynch-remembered-steven-spielberg-1236276104/ |archive-date=January 16, 2025 |accessdate=January 16, 2025 |website=Variety}}</ref> [[Martin Scorsese]] wrote a statement that read in part, "He put images on the screen unlike anything that I or anybody else had ever seen—he made everything strange, uncanny, revelatory and new."<ref>{{cite web |last=Bergeson |first=Samantha |date=January 16, 2025 |title=Kyle MacLachlan, Naomi Watts, Martin Scorsese, and More Pay Tribute to David Lynch: 'He Made Everything Strange, Uncanny, Revelatory, and New' |url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/breaking-news/david-lynch-tributes-1235085685/ |accessdate=January 16, 2025 |website=[[IndieWire]]}}</ref> Tributes were also paid by [[Judd Apatow]], [[Mel Brooks]], [[Francis Ford Coppola]], [[Terry Gilliam]], [[James Gunn]], [[Ron Howard]], [[Patton Oswalt]], [[Pedro Pascal]], [[Billy Corgan]], [[Questlove]], and [[Ben Stiller]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Lexi |last=Carson |date=January 16, 2025 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/david-lynch-dead-steven-spielberg-james-gunn-1236110937/ |title=Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, James Gunn and More Pay Tribute to David Lynch: He 'Inspired So Many of Us' |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |accessdate=January 16, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Brendan |last=Morrow |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/01/16/david-lynch-dead-celebrity-tributes/77749774007/ |date=January 16, 2025 |title=Steven Spielberg, 'Twin Peaks' star Kyle MacLachlan, more remember David Lynch|website=[[USA Today]]|accessdate=January 16, 2025}}</ref> 

Critic [[Peter Bradshaw]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' eulogized Lynch as "the great American [[surrealist]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bradshaw |first1=Peter |title=David Lynch: the great American surrealist who made experimentalism mainstream |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jan/16/david-lynch-the-great-american-surrealist-who-made-experimentalism-mainstream |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=January 17, 2025|date=16 January 2025}}</ref> Critic [[Richard Brody]] of ''[[The New Yorker]]'' wrote, "many films are called revelatory and visionary, but Lynch's films seem made to exemplify these terms", citing his "audacious invention and exquisite realization of symbolic details and uncanny realms".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Brody |first1=Richard |title=How David Lynch Became an Icon of Cinema |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/how-david-lynch-became-an-icon-of-cinema |magazine=The New Yorker |date=January 17, 2025 |access-date=7 March 2025}}</ref>

Lynch's oft-chosen self-description was "Eagle Scout, Missoula, Montana".<ref name="Hoberman" />

===Memorials===
Soon after Lynch died, fans began placing flowers beneath the "Bob's Big Boy Statue", a statue of [[Bob's Big Boy]]'s titular mascot outside its Burbank location. Lynch was known to enjoy Big Boy's chocolate milkshakes and coffee, and frequented the spot for many years.<ref>{{cite web |title=Hall of Fame David Lynch - Bob's Big Boy |url=https://bobs.net/pages/hall-of-fame-david-lynch |website=Bobs Net |access-date=14 April 2025}}</ref>

Around the same time, a similar scenario occurred at Twede's Cafe in [[North Bend, Washington]], the original location of the "Double R Diner" in ''Twin Peaks''. As at Big Boy's, flowers, photos, and personal letters were left outside the diner.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gorenflo |first1=Grace |title=David Lynch fans memorialize him outside Twede's Cafe |url=https://www.valleyrecord.com/news/david-lynch-fans-memorialize-him-outside-twedes-cafe/ |website=Snoqualmie Valley Record |date=January 27, 2025 |access-date=14 April 2025}}</ref>