Editing David Lynch

{{Short description|American filmmaker (1946–2025)}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2018}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{About other people|the American director|David Lynch}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = David Lynch
| image              = David Lynch (1990).jpg
| alt                = Portrait of David Lynch, a white middle-aged man, with short hair, a shaved beard and blue eyes, wearing a suit, during the 1990 Emmy Awards.
| caption            = Lynch in 1990
| birth_name         = David Keith Lynch
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1946|01|20}}
| birth_place        = [[Missoula, Montana]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|2025|01|16|1946|01|20}}
| death_place        = Los Angeles, California,<!--Links not needed per MOS:OVERLINK--> U.S.
| resting_place      = [[Hollywood Forever Cemetery]]
| other_names        = Judas Booth
| alma_mater         = [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]] (dropped out)
| occupation         = {{flatlist|
* Filmmaker
* painter
* visual artist
* musician
* author
* actor
}}
| years_active       = 1967–2025
| style              = {{flatlist|
* [[Surrealist cinema|Surrealism]]
* [[mystery film|mystery]]
* [[neo-noir]]
* [[psychological thriller]]
* [[arthouse]]
* [[experimental film|experimental]]
}}
| works              = {{flatlist|
* [[David Lynch filmography|Filmography]]
* [[David Lynch discography|discography]]
* [[David Lynch bibliography|bibliography]]
* [[David Lynch's unrealized projects|unrealized]]
}}
| spouse             = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|Peggy Lentz|1968|1974|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Mary Fisk|1977|1987|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|[[Mary Sweeney]]|2006|2007|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Emily Stofle|2009|2023|end=separated}}
}}
| partner            = {{plainlist|
* [[Isabella Rossellini]] (1986–1991)
}}
| children           = 4, including [[Jennifer Lynch|Jennifer]]
| awards             = [[List of accolades received by David Lynch|Full list]]
| signature          = David Lynch signature.svg
| signature_alt      = David Lynch
| module             = {{Listen voice|filename=David Lynch - Nuart Theatre trailer for Eraserhead.ogg|description=from a 1982 introduction to ''[[Eraserhead]]''.}}
}}
{{David Lynch sidebar}}

'''David Keith Lynch''' (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time,{{efn|1=Attributed to multiple sources.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Bradshaw |first1=Peter |last2=Brooks |first2=Xan |last3=Haskell |first3=Molly |last4=Malcolm |first4=Derek |last5=Pulver |first5=Andrew |last6=Rich |first6=B. Ruby |last7=Rose |first7=Steve |date=2003-11-14 |title=The world's 40 best directors |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/nov/14/1 |access-date=2025-02-09 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Bradshaw |first=Peter |date=2025-01-16 |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 |access-date=2025-02-09 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Zacharek |first=Stephanie |date=2025-01-16 |title=Why We're Lucky to Have Lived in the Age of David Lynch |url=https://time.com/7207633/david-lynch-legacy/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Brody |first=Richard |date=2025-01-17 |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 |access-date=2025-02-09 |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hammond |first=Pete |date=2025-01-16 |title=David Lynch Appreciation: A Visionary For All Time |url=https://deadline.com/2025/01/david-lynch-appreciation-visionary-for-all-time-1236258811/ |access-date=2025-02-09 |website=[[Deadline Hollywood]] |language=en-US}}</ref>}} Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim for [[David Lynch filmography|films]] distinguished by their [[Surrealist cinema|surrealist]] and [[experimental film|experimental]] qualities. In a career spanning more than five decades, he received [[List of accolades received by David Lynch|numerous accolades]], including the [[Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement]] at the [[Venice Film Festival]] in 2006 and an [[Academy Honorary Award]] in 2019.

Lynch studied painting and made short films before making his first feature, the independent [[body horror]] film ''[[Eraserhead]]'' (1977), which found success as a [[midnight movie]]. He earned critical acclaim and nominations for the [[Academy Award for Best Director]] for the biographical drama ''[[The Elephant Man (1980 film)|The Elephant Man]]'' (1980), the mystery thriller ''[[Blue Velvet (film)|Blue Velvet]]'' (1986), and the [[neo-noir]] ''[[Mulholland Drive (film)|Mulholland Drive]]'' (2001). For his romantic crime drama ''[[Wild at Heart (film)|Wild at Heart]]'' (1990), he received the [[Palme d'Or]] at the [[Cannes Film Festival]]. He also directed the [[space opera]] ''[[Dune (1984 film)|Dune]]'' (1984), the neo-noir ''[[Lost Highway (film)|Lost Highway]]'' (1997), the [[road movie]] ''[[The Straight Story]]'' (1999), and the experimental thriller ''[[Inland Empire (film)|Inland Empire]]'' (2006).

Lynch and [[Mark Frost]] created the [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] surrealist horror-mystery series ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' (1990–1991), for which he received five [[Primetime Emmy Award]] nominations, including [[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 a [[Twin Peaks season 3|third season in 2017]]. His acting career included roles on ''Twin Peaks'', ''[[The Cleveland Show]]'' (2010–2013), and ''[[Louie (American TV series)|Louie]]'' (2012), and in the films ''[[Lucky (2017 American film)|Lucky]]'' (2017) and ''[[The Fabelmans]]'' (2022). He directed music videos for [[Chris Isaak]], [[X Japan]], [[Moby]], [[Interpol (band)|Interpol]], [[Nine Inch Nails]] and [[Donovan]], and commercials for [[Dior]], [[Yves Saint Laurent (fashion house)|YSL]], [[Gucci]] and the [[New York City Department of Sanitation]].

Lynch also worked as a musician, releasing solo albums, and as a furniture designer, [[cartoonist]], animator, photographer, and author. A practitioner of [[Transcendental Meditation]], he founded the [[David Lynch Foundation]] to fund meditation lessons for at-risk populations. A lifelong smoker, he died from complications of [[emphysema]] after being evacuated from his home due to the [[January 2025 Southern California wildfires]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pulver |first=Andrew |date=2025-01-16 |title=David Lynch, Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive director, dies aged 78 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jan/16/david-lynch-twin-peaks-and-muholland-drive-director-dies-aged-78 |access-date=2025-03-08 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
{{main|Early life of David Lynch}}
{{quote box|width=20em|quote=My childhood was elegant homes, tree-lined streets, the milkman, building backyard forts, droning airplanes, blue skies, picket fences, green grass, cherry trees. [[Middle America (US)|Middle America]] as it's supposed to be. But on the cherry tree there's this pitch oozing out – some black, some yellow, and millions of [[red ants]] crawling all over it. I discovered that if one looks a little closer at this beautiful world, there are ''always'' red ants underneath. Because I grew up in a perfect world, other things were a contrast. |source=<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|10–11}}}}

David Keith Lynch was born in [[Missoula, Montana]], on January 20, 1946.<ref name="lynch05">{{Cite book |last1=Lynch |first1=David |title=Lynch on Lynch |last2=Rodley |first2=Chris |publisher=Faber and Faber |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-571-22018-2 |edition=revised |location=New York}}</ref>{{rp|1}} The first film he saw was [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]]'s ''[[Wait till the Sun Shines, Nellie (film)|Wait till the Sun Shines, Nellie]]'' (1952).<ref name="Hoberman">{{Cite news |last=Hoberman |first=J. |author-link=J. Hoberman |date=January 16, 2025 |title=David Lynch Dead: 'Twin Peaks' and 'Mulholland Drive' Director Was 78 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/movies/david-lynch-dead.html |access-date=January 16, 2025 |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> His father, Donald Walton Lynch (1915–2007), was a research scientist working for the [[U.S. Department of Agriculture]] (USDA), and his mother, Edwina "Sunny" Lynch (née Sundholm; 1919–2004), was an English-language tutor. Two of Lynch's maternal great-grandparents were [[Swedish-speaking population of Finland|Finnish-Swedish]] immigrants who arrived in the U.S. during the 19th century.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ng.se/artiklar/david-lynch-%E2%80%9Dden-haer-vaerlden-aer-full-av-hat-och-angest%E2%80%9D|title=David Lynch: "Den här världen är full av hat och ångest"|website=NÖJESGUIDEN|access-date=June 20, 2020|archive-date=June 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623034616/https://ng.se/artiklar/david-lynch-%E2%80%9Dden-haer-vaerlden-aer-full-av-hat-och-angest%E2%80%9D|url-status=live}}</ref> He recalled that his father "would drive me through the woods in his green Forest Service truck, over dirt roads, through the most beautiful forests where the trees are very tall and shafts of sunlight come down and in the mountain streams the rainbow trout leap out and their little trout sides catch glimpses of light. Then my father would drop me in the woods and go off. It was a weird, comforting feeling being in the woods."<ref name=Corliss>{{cite magazine| last=Corliss| first=Richard| author-link=Richard Corliss| title=David Lynch: Czar of the Bizarre| date=October 1, 1990| magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]| url=https://time.com/archive/6716008/david-lynch-czar-of-bizarre/}}</ref> He was raised as a [[Presbyterian]].<ref name="Williams">{{cite news|author=Williams, Alex| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/31/fashion/31lynch.html|title=David Lynch's Shockingly Peaceful Inner Life| work=[[The New York Times]]|date=December 31, 2007|access-date=November 29, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Sadighian">{{cite news|author=Sadighian, David|url=http://www.globalgoodnews.com/education-news-a.html?art=1128100751793764|title=David Lynch thinks we're all lightbulbs. What?|newspaper=[[Yale Daily News]]| date=October 1, 2005|access-date=November 29, 2010|archive-date=July 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724122946/http://www.globalgoodnews.com/education-news-a.html?art=1128100751793764|url-status=live}}</ref> The Lynch family often moved around according to where the USDA assigned Donald: Lynch moved with his parents to [[Sandpoint, Idaho]], when he was two months old; two years later, after his brother John was born, the family moved to [[Spokane, Washington]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-17 |title=What 'Twin Peaks' creator David Lynch meant to WA |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/twin-peaks-creator-david-lynchs-legacy-in-wa/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=The Seattle Times |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-16 |title=Visionary filmmaker behind 'Twin Peaks' and 'Eraserhead' David Lynch, who partly grew up in Spokane, dies at 78 |url=https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/jan/16/visionary-filmmaker-behind-twin-peaks-and-eraserhe/ |access-date=2025-05-08 |website=Spokesman.com |language=en}}</ref> Lynch's sister Martha was born there. The family then moved to [[Durham, North Carolina]], [[Boise, Idaho]], and [[Alexandria, Virginia]].<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|1}} Lynch adjusted to this transitory early life with relative ease, noting that he usually had no difficulty making new friends when he attended a new school.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|2–3}} Of his early life, he remarked:

{{blockquote|I found the world completely and totally fantastic as a child. Of course, I had the usual fears, like going to school&nbsp;... for me, back then, school was a crime against young people. It destroyed the seeds of liberty. The teachers didn't encourage knowledge or a positive attitude.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|14}}}}

[[File:David Lynch (1964 yearbook portrait).jpg|thumb|upright=0.75|alt=1964 high school senior photo portrait of Lynch in a suit|Lynch's high school senior portrait, 1964]]
Alongside his schooling, Lynch joined the [[Boy Scouts of America|Boy Scouts]]. Later, he said he "became [a Scout] so I could quit and put it behind me", and rose to the highest rank of [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]]. Lynch befriended Toby Keeler, whose father, Bushnell, was a painter. Bushnell gave Lynch ''The Art Spirit'' by [[Robert Henri]]. It was a revelation, and Lynch decided to dedicate himself to "the art life".<ref name=Lim>{{cite book| last=Lim| first=Dennis| title=David Lynch: The Man From Another Place| date=2015}}</ref>{{rp|1}}

At [[Francis C. Hammond High School]] in Alexandria, Lynch did not excel academically, having little interest in schoolwork, but he was popular with other students, and after leaving he decided that he wanted to study painting at college. He began his studies at the [[Corcoran School of the Arts and Design]] in Washington, D.C., before transferring in 1964 to the [[School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston]] with roommate musician [[Peter Wolf]].<ref name=Thomson>{{cite book| last=Thomson| first=David| author-link=David Thomson (film critic)| title=[[The New Biographical Dictionary of Film]]| page=606}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://corcoran.gwu.edu/notable-alumni|title=Notable Alumni &#124; Corcoran School of the Arts & Design &#124; The George Washington University|website=corcoran.gwu.edu|access-date=April 22, 2019|archive-date=August 4, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804074116/https://corcoran.gwu.edu/notable-alumni|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Peter'sBio|url=http://www.peterwolf.com/bio/index2.html|work=Peter Wolf|access-date=August 16, 2012|author=Wolf, Peter|year=2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615152715/http://www.peterwolf.com/bio/index2.html|archive-date=June 15, 2012}}</ref> He left after only a year, saying, "I was not inspired at all in that place." He instead decided that he wanted to travel around Europe for three years with his friend [[Jack Fisk]], who was similarly unhappy with his studies at [[Cooper Union]]. They had some hopes that they could train in Europe with Austrian [[Expressionism|expressionist]] painter [[Oskar Kokoschka]] at his school. Upon reaching [[Salzburg]], however, they found that Kokoschka was not available. Disillusioned, they returned to the United States after spending only two weeks in Europe.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|31–34}}

==Film career==
===1967–1976: Short films and ''Eraserhead'' ===
Back in the United States, Lynch returned to Virginia. Because his parents had moved to [[Walnut Creek, California]], he stayed with his friend Toby Keeler for a while.<ref name=lynch05 />{{rp|p=36}} He decided to move to [[Philadelphia]] and enroll at the [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]], after advice from Fisk, who was already enrolled there. He preferred this college to his previous school in Boston, saying, "In Philadelphia there were great and serious painters, and everybody was inspiring one another and it was a beautiful time there."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|36–37}} He recalled that Philadelphia had "a great mood—factories, smoke, railroads, diners, the strangest characters and the darkest night. I saw vivid images—plastic curtains held together with Band-Aids, rags stuffed in broken windows." He was influenced by the Irish painter [[Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon]].<ref name=Hoberman/> In Philadelphia, Lynch began a relationship with a fellow student, Peggy Reavey, whom he married in 1967. The next year, their daughter [[Jennifer Lynch|Jennifer]] was born. Peggy later said Lynch "definitely was a reluctant father, but a very loving one. Hey, I was pregnant when we got married. We were both reluctant."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|31}} As a family, they moved to Philadelphia's [[Fairmount, Philadelphia|Fairmount]] neighborhood, where they bought a 12-room house for the relatively low price of $3,500 ({{Inflation|US|3500|1967|fmt=eq|r=-2}}) due to the area's high crime and poverty rates. Lynch later said:

{{blockquote|We lived cheap, but the city was full of fear. A kid was shot to death down the street&nbsp;... We were robbed twice, had windows shot out and a car stolen. The house was first broken into only three days after we moved in&nbsp;... The feeling was so close to extreme danger, and the fear was so intense. There was violence and hate and filth. But the biggest influence in my whole life was that city.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|42–43}}}}

Meanwhile, to help support his family, Lynch took a job printing [[engravings]].<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|43}} At the Pennsylvania Academy, Lynch made his first short film, ''[[Six Men Getting Sick (Six Times)]]'' (1967). He had first come up with the idea when he developed a wish to see his paintings move, and he began discussing creating animation with an artist named Bruce Samuelson. When this project never came about, Lynch decided to work on a film alone and purchased the cheapest 16mm camera he could find. Taking one of the academy's abandoned upper rooms as a workspace, he spent $150,<ref name="The Short Films of David Lynch">{{cite AV media|title=The Short Films of David Lynch|year=2002}}</ref> which at the time he felt was a lot of money, to produce ''Six Men Getting Sick''.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|37–38}} Calling the film "57 seconds of growth and fire, and three seconds of vomit", Lynch played it on a loop at the academy's annual end-of-year exhibit, where it shared joint-first prize with a painting by Noel Mahaffey.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|38}}<ref name="leblancodell">{{Cite book |last1=Le Blanc |first1=Michelle |author1-link=Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell |author2-link=Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell |title=David Lynch |last2=Odell |first2=Colin |publisher=Pocket Essentials |year=2000 |isbn=1-903047-06-4 |location=Harpenden, Hertfordshire}}</ref>{{rp|15–16}} This led to a commission from one of his fellow students, the wealthy H. Barton Wasserman, who offered him $1,000 ({{Inflation|US|1000|1968|fmt=eq|r=-2}}) to create a film installation in his home. Spending $478 of that on the second-hand [[Bolex]] camera "of [his] dreams", Lynch produced a new animated short but, upon getting the film developed, realized that the result was a blurred, frameless print. He later said, "So I called up [Wasserman] and said, 'Bart, the film is a disaster. The camera was broken and what I've done hasn't turned out.' And he said, 'Don't worry, David, take the rest of the money and make something else for me. Just give me a print.' End of story."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|39}}

With his leftover money, Lynch decided to experiment with a mix of animation and live action, producing the four-minute short ''[[The Alphabet (film)|The Alphabet]]'' (1968). The film starred Lynch's wife Peggy as a character known as The Girl, who chants the alphabet to a series of images of horses before dying at the end by hemorrhaging blood all over her bed sheets. Adding a sound effect, Lynch used a broken [[Uher (brand)|Uher]] tape recorder to record the sound of Jennifer crying, creating a distorted sound that Lynch found particularly effective. Later describing what had inspired him, Lynch said, "Peggy's niece was having a bad dream one night and was saying the alphabet in her sleep in a tormented way. So that's sort of what started 'The Alphabet' going. The rest of it was just subconscious."<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|15–16}}<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|39–40}}

Learning about the newly founded [[American Film Institute]], which gave grants to filmmakers who could support their application with a prior work and a script for a new project, Lynch decided to submit a copy of ''The Alphabet'' along with a script he had written for a new short film, ''[[The Short Films of David Lynch#The Grandmother|The Grandmother]]'', that would be almost entirely live action.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|42}} The institute agreed to help finance the work, initially offering him $5,000 out of his requested budget of $7,200, but later granting him the additional $2,200. Starring people he knew from both work and college and filmed in his own house,<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|44–47}} ''The Grandmother'' featured a neglected boy who "grows" a grandmother from a seed to care for him. The film critics [[Michelle Le Blanc and Colin Odell]] wrote, "this film is a true oddity but contains many of the themes and ideas that would filter into his later work, and shows a remarkable grasp of the medium".<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|18}}

[[File:Eraserhead.jpg|thumb|alt=Black and white image of a man with long wild hair standing straight up, as if electrocuted like a cartoon|Theatrical release poster for ''[[Eraserhead]]'' (1977)]]
Lynch left the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts after three semesters and in 1970 moved with his wife and daughter to Los Angeles,<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Blumgart |first=Jake |date=2014-09-22 |title=David Lynch in Philly, a City He Feared |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/david-lynch-in-philly-a-city-he-hated/
 |magazine=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]] |access-date=2025-01-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=David Lynch: "It Can All Be So Beautiful" |url=https://americanfilm.afi.com/issue/2012/12/conservatory |access-date=January 16, 2025 |website=American Film}}</ref> where he began studying filmmaking at the [[AFI Conservatory]], a place he later called "completely chaotic and disorganized, which was great&nbsp;... you quickly learned that if you were going to get something done, you would have to do it yourself. They wanted to let people do their thing."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|57–58}} He began writing a script for a proposed work, ''Gardenback'', that had "unfolded from this painting I'd done". In this venture he was supported by a number of figures at the Conservatory, who encouraged him to lengthen the script and add more dialogue, which he reluctantly agreed to do. All the interference on his ''Gardenback'' project made him fed up with the Conservatory and led him to quit after returning to start his second year and being put in first-year classes. AFI dean [[Frank Daniel]] asked Lynch to reconsider, believing that he was one of the school's best students. Lynch agreed on the condition that he could create a project that would not be interfered with. Feeling that ''Gardenback'' was "wrecked", he set out on a new film, ''[[Eraserhead]]''.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|58–59}}

''Eraserhead'' was planned to be about 42 minutes long (it ended up being 89 minutes), its script was only 21 pages, and Lynch was able to create the film without interference. He recalled its origin: "My original image was of a man's head bouncing on the ground, being picked up by a boy and taken to a pencil factory. I don’t know where it came from."<ref name=Corliss/> Filming began on May 29, 1972, at night in some abandoned stables, allowing the production team (which was largely Lynch and some of his friends, including [[Sissy Spacek]], [[Jack Fisk]], cinematographer [[Frederick Elmes]], and sound designer [[Alan Splet]]) to set up a camera room, green room, editing room, sets, as well as a food room and a bathroom.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|59–60}} The [[American Film Institute|AFI]] gave Lynch a $10,000 grant, but it was not enough to complete the film, and under pressure from studios after the success of the relatively cheap feature film ''[[Easy Rider]]'', it was unable to give him more. Lynch was then supported by a loan from his father and money that he earned from a paper route that he took up, delivering ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]''.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|60, 76}}<ref>{{cite news |title=David Lynch |url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303754904577530860419854198.html?google_editors_picks=true |newspaper=[[The Wall Street Journal]] |access-date=July 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725005614/http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303754904577530860419854198.html?google_editors_picks=true |archive-date=July 25, 2012|date=July 21, 2012 |url-status=live }}
</ref> Not long into ''Eraserhead''{{'}}s production, Lynch and Peggy amicably separated and divorced, and he began living full-time on set. In 1977, Lynch married Jack Fisk's sister Mary Fisk.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|60, 80, 110}} In 1973, Lynch's sister suggested he try [[Transcendental Meditation]]. It proved a revelation, and Lynch claimed "to never have missed a session since: twenty minutes, twice a day."<ref name=Lim/>{{rp|2–3}}

Due to financial problems, the filming of ''Eraserhead'' was haphazard, regularly stopping and starting again. During one such break in 1974, Lynch made ''The Amputee'', a one-shot film about two minutes long. He proposed that he make ''The Amputee'' to present to AFI to test two different types of film stock.<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|28–29}}

''Eraserhead'' was finally finished in 1976. Lynch said that not a single reviewer of the film understood it as he intended. Filmed in black and white, ''Eraserhead'' tells the story of Henry ([[Jack Nance]]), a quiet young man, living in a [[dystopia]]n industrial wasteland, whose girlfriend gives birth to a deformed baby whom she leaves in his care. It was heavily influenced by the fearful mood of Philadelphia, and Lynch has called it "my ''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|Philadelphia Story]]''".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|56}}<ref name = "cehwte">{{cite interview |title=tip Filmjahrbuch Nr. 1 (1985) |trans-title=tip Film Yearbook No.&nbsp;1 (1985) |url=http://www.davidlynch.de/tiplynchtrans.html |subject=David Lynch |interviewer=Herman Weigel |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101011151810/http://davidlynch.de/tiplynchtrans.html |archive-date=October 11, 2010 }}</ref> Lynch tried to get it entered into the [[Cannes Film Festival]], but while some reviewers liked it, others felt it was awful, and it was not selected for screening. Reviewers from the [[New York Film Festival]] also rejected it, but it screened at the [[Los Angeles Film Festival]], where [[Ben Barenholtz]], the distributor of the [[Elgin Theater]], heard about it.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|82–83}} Barenholtz was very supportive of the movie, helping to distribute it around the United States in 1977. ''Eraserhead'' subsequently became popular on the [[midnight movie]] underground circuit,<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|54}} and was later called one of the most important midnight movies of the 1970s, along with ''[[Night of the Living Dead]]'', ''[[El Topo]]'', ''[[Pink Flamingos]]'', ''[[The Rocky Horror Picture Show]]'', and ''[[The Harder They Come]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457414/ |title=Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream |publisher=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> [[Stanley Kubrick]] said it was one of his all-time favorite films.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|77}}

===1980–1989: Populist surrealism ===
After ''Eraserhead''{{'}}s success on the underground circuit, [[Stuart Cornfeld]], an executive producer for [[Mel Brooks]], saw it and recalled, "I was just 100 percent blown away&nbsp;... I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever seen. It was such a cleansing experience."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|88}} Brooks viewed ''Eraserhead'', and after coming out of the screening theater, embraced Lynch, declaring, "You're a madman! I love you! You're in."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|92–93}}

Cornfeld agreed to help Lynch with his next film, ''[[Ronnie Rocket]]'', for which Lynch had already written a script. But Lynch soon realized that ''Ronnie Rocket'', a film that he said is about "electricity and a three-foot guy with red hair", was not going to be picked up by any financiers, and so he asked Cornfeld to find him a script by someone else that he could direct. Cornfeld found four. On hearing the title of the first, ''The Elephant Man'', Lynch chose it.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|90–92}} ''[[The Elephant Man (1980 film)|The Elephant Man]]''{{'}}s script, by Chris de Vore and [[Eric Bergren]], is based on the true story of [[Joseph Merrick]], a severely deformed man in [[Victorian era|Victorian]] London, who was held in a [[sideshow]] but later taken under the care of a London surgeon, [[Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet|Frederick Treves]]. Lynch wanted to make some alterations that would deviate from real events but in his view make a better plot,<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|95}} but he needed the permission of Brooks, whose company, [[Brooksfilms]], was responsible for production. The film stars [[John Hurt]] as John Merrick (the name changed from Joseph) and [[Anthony Hopkins]] as Treves. Filming took place in London. Though surrealistic and in black and white, it has been called "one of the most conventional" of Lynch's films.<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|29–30}} It was a critical and commercial success, earning eight [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations, including [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] and [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]].<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|104}}

After ''The Elephant Man''{{'}}s success, [[George Lucas]], a fan of ''Eraserhead'', offered Lynch the opportunity to direct the third film in his original ''[[Star Wars]]'' trilogy, ''[[Return of the Jedi]]''. Lynch declined, saying that he had "next door to zero interest" and arguing that Lucas should direct the film himself as the movie should reflect his own vision, not Lynch's.<ref>{{cite web |title=David Lynch Meets George Lucas | date=February 17, 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJQ4vCu-S0U |via=YouTube |access-date=December 1, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140911060947/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJQ4vCu-S0U|archive-date=September 11, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name = "cehwte" /><ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|113}} Soon, the opportunity to direct another big-budget science fiction epic arose when [[Dino de Laurentiis]] of the [[De Laurentiis Entertainment Group]] asked Lynch to create a film adaptation of [[Frank Herbert]]'s science fiction novel [[Dune (novel)|''Dune'']] (1965).<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|113}} Lynch agreed, and in doing so was also contractually obliged to produce two other works for the company. He began writing a script based on the novel, initially with both de Vore and Bergren, and then alone when De Laurentiis was unhappy with their ideas.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|115}} Lynch also helped build some of the sets, attempting to create "a certain look", and particularly enjoyed building the set for the oil planet [[Giedi Prime]], for which he used "steel, bolts, and porcelain".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|118}}

''Dune'' is set in the far future, when humans live in an interstellar empire under a [[feudalism|feudal system]]. The main character, [[Paul Atreides]] ([[Kyle MacLachlan]]), is the son of a nobleman who takes control of the [[desert planet]] [[Arrakis]], which grows the rare spice [[melange (fictional drug)|melange]], the empire's most highly prized commodity. Lynch was unhappy with the work, later saying: "''Dune'' was a kind of studio film. I didn't have [[final cut privilege|final cut]]. And, little by little, I was subconsciously making compromises".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|120}} Much of his footage was removed from the final theatrical cut, dramatically condensing the plot.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|116–117}} Although De Laurentiis hoped it would be as successful as ''Star Wars'', ''[[Dune (1984 film)|Dune]]'' (1984) was a critical and commercial dud; it had cost $45&nbsp;million to make, and grossed $27.4&nbsp;million domestically. Later, [[Universal Pictures|Universal Studios]] released an "extended cut" for syndicated television, containing almost an hour of cutting-room-floor footage and new narration. It did not represent Lynch's intentions, but the studio considered it more comprehensible than the original version. Lynch objected to the changes and had his name struck from the extended cut, which has [[Alan Smithee]] credited as the director and "Judas Booth" (a pseudonym Lynch invented, reflecting his feelings of betrayal) as the screenwriter.<ref>{{cite book |url={{Google books|l5JwyKjpH2QC|plainurl=yes}} |title=The cinema of David Lynch: American dreams, nightmare visions |first1=Erica |last1=Sheen |first2=Annette |last2=Davison |publisher=Wallflower Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-903364-85-7 |access-date=January 12, 2016 |archive-date=December 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228024824/https://books.google.com/books?id=l5JwyKjpH2QC&pg=PA41 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Lynch was still contractually obligated to produce two other projects for De Laurentiis, the first a planned sequel to ''Dune'', which due to the film's failure never went beyond the script stage.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|115}} The other was a more personal work, based on a script Lynch had been working on for some time. Developing from ideas that Lynch had had since 1973, ''[[Blue Velvet (film)|Blue Velvet]]'' was set in [[Lumberton, North Carolina]], and revolves around a college student, Jeffrey Beaumont (MacLachlan), who finds a severed ear in a field. Investigating with the help of his friend Sandy ([[Laura Dern]]), Jeffrey discovers a criminal gang led by psychopath [[Frank Booth (Blue Velvet)|Frank Booth]] ([[Dennis Hopper]]), who has kidnapped the husband and child of singer Dorothy Vallens ([[Isabella Rossellini]]) and repeatedly rapes her. Lynch called the story "a dream of strange desires wrapped inside a mystery story".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|138}} Lynch included 1960s pop songs, including [[Roy Orbison]]'s "[[In Dreams (Roy Orbison song)|In Dreams]]" and [[Bobby Vinton]]'s "[[Blue Velvet (song)|Blue Velvet]]", the latter of which largely inspired the film. Lynch said, "It was the song that sparked the movie&nbsp;... There was something mysterious about it. It made me think about things. And the first things I thought about were lawns—lawns and the neighborhood."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|134}} Other music for the film is by [[Angelo Badalamenti]], who scored most of Lynch's subsequent work.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|130–132}} 

De Laurentiis loved the film, and it received support at some of the early specialist screenings, but the preview screenings to mainstream audiences were very poorly received.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|148–149}} The film was controversial; [[Roger Ebert]] wrote that Rossellini "is asked to do things in this film that require real nerve{{nbsp}}… She is degraded, slapped around, humiliated and undressed in front of the camera." Rossellini responded: "I was an adult. I was 31 or 32. I chose to play the character ...  I think my character was the first time we did an abused woman, a portrait of an abused woman, but also she camouflaged herself behind what she was asked to be, which was sexy and beautiful and singing, and she obeys the order, and is also victimized it. That’s the complexity of ''Blue Velvet'' but also the great talent of David Lynch. I thought he did a fantastic film. I love ''Blue Velvet''."<ref>{{cite news| last=Lattanzio| first=Ryan| date=March 27, 2024| title=Isabella Rossellini Responds to Roger Ebert's 'Blue Velvet' Review| work=[[Indiewire]]| url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/isabella-rossellini-responds-roger-ebert-blue-velvet-review-1234968621/}}</ref> ''Blue Velvet'' was a critical and commercial success, winning the [[National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Film]] and earning Lynch his second Academy Award nomination for Best Director. [[David Thomson (film critic)| David Thomson]] recalls seeing it for the first time: "The occasion stood as the last moment of transcendence I had felt at the movies—until ''[[The Piano]]''. What I mean by that is a kind of passionate involvement with both the story and the making of a film, so that I was simultaneously moved by the enactment on the screen and by discovering that a new director had made the medium alive and dangerous again."<ref name=Thomson/> [[Pauline Kael]] praised Lynch as a "genius naïf" and predicted that he "might turn out to be the first populist surrealist—a [[Frank Capra]] of dream logic." She quoted a moviegoer as saying "Maybe I’m sick, but I want to see that again."<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Kael| first=Pauline| author-link=Pauline Kael |title=Out There and In Here| magazine=[[The New Yorker]]| date=September 22, 1986| url=https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/movies/blue-velvet-review-pauline-kael/}}</ref>

=== 1990–1999: ''Twin Peaks'' and film work ===
[[File:David Lynch Cannes.jpg|thumb|upright|Lynch at the [[1990 Cannes Film Festival]]]]
Lynch met the television producer [[Mark Frost]] and they started working together on a biopic of [[Marilyn Monroe]] based on [[Anthony Summers]]'s book ''The Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe'', but it never got off the ground.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|156–157}}<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|85}} While talking in a coffee shop, Lynch and Frost had the idea of a corpse washing up on a lakeshore, and went to work on their third project, first called ''Northwest Passage'' and then ''[[Twin Peaks]]'' (1990–91).<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|157}} A drama set in an eponymous small [[Washington (state)|Washington]] town where popular high school student [[Laura Palmer]] ([[Sheryl Lee]]) has been murdered, ''Twin Peaks'' featured [[FBI]] [[Dale Cooper|Special Agent Dale Cooper]] (MacLachlan) as the investigator trying to identify the killer, and discovering many of the townsfolk's secrets; Lynch said, "The project was to mix a police investigation with the ordinary lives of the characters." He later said, "[Mark Frost and I] worked together, especially in the initial stages. Later on we started working more apart." They pitched the series to [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]], which agreed to finance the pilot and eventually commissioned a season comprising seven episodes.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|157–159}} [[Richard Corliss]] wrote: "Long before the series' April premiere, ecstatic critics were priming TV viewers to expect the unexpected. Lynch's two-hour pilot didn't disappoint. It was frantic and lugubrious in turn, a soap opera with strychnine. In one night, the show had hip America hooked."<ref name=Corliss/>

Lynch directed two of the first season's seven episodes and carefully chose the other episodes' directors.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|174–175}} He also appeared in several episodes as FBI agent [[Gordon Cole (Twin Peaks)|Gordon Cole]]. The series was a success, with high ratings in the U.S. and many other countries, and soon had a cult following. A second season of 22 episodes went into production, but ABC executives believed that public interest in the show was declining. The network insisted that Lynch and Frost reveal Laura's killer's identity prematurely, which Lynch grudgingly agreed to do,<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|180–181}} in what Lynch called one of his biggest professional regrets.<ref>{{cite AV media|chapter=A Slice of Lynch|type=DVD featurette|title=Twin Peaks Definitive Gold Box Edition|year=2007}}</ref> After identifying the murderer and moving from Thursday to Saturday night, ''Twin Peaks'' continued for several more episodes, but was canceled after a ratings drop. Lynch, who disliked the direction that writers and directors took in the later episodes, directed the final episode. He ended it with a [[cliffhanger]] (like season one had), later saying, "that's not the ending. That's the ending that people were stuck with."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|182}}

Meanwhile, he was also involved in creating various commercials for companies including [[Yves Saint Laurent (brand)|Yves Saint Laurent]], [[Calvin Klein]], [[Giorgio Armani]], and the Japanese coffee company Namoi, which featured a Japanese man searching Twin Peaks for his missing wife.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|211–212}}

{{quote box|width=275px|align=right|quote=1990 was Lynch's annus mirabilis: ''Wild at Heart'' won the [[Palme d'Or]] at [[Cannes]], and the television series ''Twin Peaks'' was proving a smash hit with audiences across the world. The musical/performance piece ''Industrial Symphony No.&nbsp;1'', which Lynch had staged with Angelo Badalamenti at the Brooklyn Academy of music, had spawned the album ''Floating into the Night'' and launched singer [[Julee Cruise]]. Five one-man exhibitions between 1989 and 1991 emphasized Lynch's roots in fine art and painting, and a rash of ads (including a teaser trailer for [[Michael Jackson]]'s 'Dangerous' tour) confirmed the demand for the Lynch touch&nbsp;... In an unlikely scenario for the maker of ''Eraserhead'', Lynch had become an influential and fashionable brand name.|source= —Christopher Rodley<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|p=191}}
}}

While Lynch was working on the first few episodes of ''Twin Peaks'', his friend [[Monty Montgomery (producer)|Monty Montgomery]] "gave me a book that he wanted to direct as a movie. He asked if I would maybe be executive producer or something, and I said 'That's great, Monty, but what if I read it and fall in love with it and want to do it myself?' And he said, 'In that case, you can do it yourself'." The book was [[Barry Gifford]]'s novel ''[[Wild at Heart (novel)|Wild at Heart: The Story of Sailor and Lula]]'', about two lovers on a road trip. Lynch felt that it was "just exactly the right thing at the right time. The book and the violence in America merged in my mind and many different things happened."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|193}} With Gifford's support, Lynch adapted the novel into ''[[Wild at Heart (film)|Wild at Heart]]'', a [[crime fiction|crime]] and [[road movie]] starring [[Nicolas Cage]] as Sailor and [[Laura Dern]] as Lula.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/film/2010/01/lynch-prosthetic-god-world|title=His dark materials|website=[[New Statesman]]|language=en|access-date=November 15, 2017|archive-date=November 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116074418/https://www.newstatesman.com/film/2010/01/lynch-prosthetic-god-world|url-status=live}}</ref> Calling its plot a "strange blend" of "a road picture, a love story, a psychological drama and a violent comedy", Lynch departed substantially from the novel, changing the ending and incorporating numerous references to ''[[The Wizard of Oz]]''.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|193–194, 198}} Corliss wrote: "''Wild at Heart'', which sends a pair of loser lovers (Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern) on a trip into the dark night of the [[Southern Gothic]] soul, is a tonic for the senses and an assault on the sensibilities. Heads splatter, skulls explode, biker punks torture folks for the sheer heck of it, and a pair of loopy innocents find excitement in a side trip to hell. Pretty much like ''Blue Velvet''. Yes, it's different, but the same kind of different; Lynch could no longer shock by being shocking. Many critics figured they had solved the mystery of his visual style and thematic preoccupations. Next mystery, please. By August, when the film opened in the U.S., the Lynch mob was more like a lynch mob."<ref name=Corliss/> Despite a muted response from American critics and viewers, ''Wild at Heart'' won the [[Palme d'Or]] at the [[1990 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="cannes-1990.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/164/year/1990.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Wild at Heart |access-date=August 7, 2009 |work=festival-cannes.com |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119153548/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/164/year/1990.html |url-status=live }}</ref> When it won the prize, audience members booed Lynch and the film.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/10-films-booed-at-cannes-that-every-cinephile-should-see-187984/|title= 10 Films Booed at Cannes That Every Cinephile Should See|website= [[IndieWire]]|date= April 17, 2015|accessdate= January 20, 2025}}</ref> 

After ''Wild at Heart''{{'}}s success, Lynch returned to the world of the canceled ''Twin Peaks'', this time without Frost, to make a film that was primarily a prequel but also in part a sequel. Lynch said, "I liked the idea of the story going back and forth in time."<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|187}} The result, ''[[Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me]]'' (1992), primarily revolved around the last few days of Laura Palmer's life, was much "darker" in tone than the TV series, with much of the humor removed, and dealt with such topics as [[incest]] and murder. Lynch has said the film is about "the loneliness, shame, guilt, confusion and devastation of the victim of incest". The company CIBY-2000 financed ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'', and most of the TV series's cast reprised their roles, though some refused and many were unenthusiastic about the project.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|184–187}} The film was a commercial failure in the U.S. at the time of its release, but has since experienced a critical reappraisal. Many critics, such as [[Mark Kermode]], have called it Lynch's "masterpiece".<ref name="Kermode, Mark">{{cite news | last = Kermode | first = Mark | title = David Lynch | work =[[The Guardian]] | date = February 8, 2007 | url = http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2011369,00.html | access-date = October 27, 2009 | location = London | archive-date = June 21, 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080621010856/http://film.guardian.co.uk/interview/interviewpages/0,,2011369,00.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

Meanwhile, Lynch worked on some new television shows. He and Frost created the comedy series ''[[On the Air (TV series)|On the Air]]'' (1992), which was canceled after three episodes aired, and he and Montgomery created the three-episode [[HBO]] [[miniseries]] ''[[Hotel Room]]'' (1993) about events that happen in one hotel room on different dates.<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|82–84}}

In 1993, Lynch collaborated with Japanese musician [[Yoshiki (musician)|Yoshiki]] on the video for [[X Japan]]'s song "[[Longing (song)|Longing ~Setsubou no Yoru~]]". The video was never officially released, but Lynch wrote in his 2018 memoir ''Room to Dream'' that "some of the frames are so fuckin' beautiful, you can't believe it."<ref name="Room-to-Dream">{{Cite book|title=Room to Dream|author1=Lynch, David|author2=McKenna, Kristine|isbn=9780399589195|edition= First|location=New York, N.Y.|page=327|oclc=1019843510}}</ref>

After his unsuccessful TV ventures, Lynch returned to film. In 1997, he released the non-linear [[film noir|noiresque]] ''[[Lost Highway (film)|Lost Highway]]'', which was co-written by Barry Gifford and stars [[Bill Pullman]] and [[Patricia Arquette]]. The film failed commercially and received a mixed response from critics.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lost Highway (1997)|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lost-Highway#tab=summary|website=[[The Numbers (website)|The Numbers]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|archive-date=June 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616053411/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lost-Highway#tab=summary|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Lost Highway Reviews|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/lost-highway|publisher=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|archive-date=May 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505005724/http://www.metacritic.com/movie/lost-highway|url-status=live}}</ref>

Lynch then began work on a film from a script by [[Mary Sweeney]] and John E. Roach, ''[[The Straight Story]]'', based on the true story of [[Alvin Straight]] ([[Richard Farnsworth]]), an elderly man from [[Laurens, Iowa]], who goes on a 300-mile journey to visit his sick brother ([[Harry Dean Stanton]]) in [[Mount Zion, Wisconsin]], by [[Riding mower|riding lawnmower]]. Asked why he chose this script, Lynch said, "that's what I fell in love with next", and expressed his admiration of Straight, describing him as "like [[James Dean]], except he's old".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|247, 252}} Badalamenti scored the film, calling it "very different from the kind of score he's done for [Lynch] in the past".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|260}}

Among the many differences from Lynch's other films, ''[[The Straight Story]]'' contains no profanity, sex, or violence, and is rated G (general viewing) by the [[Motion Picture Association of America]], which came as "shocking news" to many in the film industry, who were surprised that it "did not disturb, offend or mystify".<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|245}} Le Blanc and Odell write that the plot made it "seem as far removed from Lynch's earlier works as could be imagined, but in fact right from the very opening, this is entirely his film—a surreal road movie".<ref name=leblancodell/>{{rp|69}} It was also Lynch's only title released by [[Walt Disney Pictures]] in the U.S., after studio president [[Peter Schneider (film executive)|Peter Schneider]] screened the film before its Cannes Film Festival premiere and quickly had Disney acquire the distribution rights. Schneider said it is "a beautiful movie about values, forgiveness and healing and celebrates America. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was a Walt Disney film."<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Petrikin |first1=Chris |last2=Dawtrey |first2=Adam |date=May 10, 1999 |title=Disney, Lynch go 'Straight' |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |url=https://variety.com/1999/film/news/disney-lynch-go-straight-1117500191/ |access-date=April 23, 2020}}</ref> It was named one of the best films of the year by ''[[The New York Times]]''; [[Janet Maslin]] wrote: "Somehow it took David Lynch to lead audiences past the ultimate frontier: into a G-rated parable of spirituality and decency, seen from the unfashionable vantage point of old age. Mr. Lynch accomplished the unthinkable by putting Richard Farnsworth, in a devastatingly real and rock-solid performance, on a lawnmower at five miles per hour and still building enough drama and emotion for a great chase. Burned out on the surreal and the grotesque, Mr. Lynch faced down inevitable realities about aging and conscience."<ref>{{cite news| title=1999: THE YEAR IN REVIEW - FILM; Discovering Fresh Ways to See and to Sell| last=Maslin| first=Janet| author-link=Janet Maslin| date=December 26, 1999| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/26/movies/1999-the-year-in-review-film-discovering-fresh-ways-to-see-and-to-sell.html| work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

===2000–2009: ''Mulholland Drive'' and beyond ===
[[File:Mulholland drive(lynch)--.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Four people stand beside each other facing off-camera, from left to right: a blonde woman wearing a tan dress suit, a man with salt-and-pepper hair wearing a blazer over white shirt and slacks, a brunette wearing red pants and a black top, and a dark-haired man wearing a black leather jacket over black clothes.|Lynch (second from left) at the [[2001 Cannes Film Festival]] promoting ''[[Mulholland Drive (film)|Mulholland Drive]]'']]
In 1999, Lynch approached [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] again with ideas for a television drama. The network gave Lynch the go-ahead to shoot a two-hour pilot for the series ''Mulholland Drive'', but disputes over content and running time led to the project being shelved indefinitely. With $7 million from the French [[production company]] [[StudioCanal]], Lynch completed the pilot as a film, ''[[Mulholland Drive (film)|Mulholland Drive]]''. The film, a nonlinear surrealist tale of [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]]'s dark side, stars [[Naomi Watts]], [[Laura Harring]], and [[Justin Theroux]]. It performed relatively well at the box office worldwide and was a critical success, earning Lynch [[Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director|Best Director]] at the [[2001 Cannes Film Festival]] (shared with [[Coen brothers|Joel Coen]] for ''[[The Man Who Wasn't There (2001 film)|The Man Who Wasn't There]]'') and Best Director from the New York Film Critics Association. He also received his third Academy Award nomination for Best Director.<ref name="oscar-db">{{cite web|title=Academy Award Database: Lynch, David|url=http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=13035139382341|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113073650/http://awardsdatabase.oscars.org/ampas_awards/DisplayMain.jsp?curTime=13035139382341|archive-date=January 13, 2012|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences|access-date=April 23, 2011}}</ref> In 2016, the film was named the [[BBC's 100 Greatest Films of the 21st Century|best film of the 21st century in a BBC poll]] of 177 film critics from 36 countries.<ref name="Brown-2016">{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Brown |title=Mulholland Drive leads the pack in list of 21st century's top films |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=August 22, 2016 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/23/mulholland-drive-david-lynch-21st-century-top-films-bbc-poll |access-date=August 23, 2016 |archive-date=August 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822235543/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/aug/23/mulholland-drive-david-lynch-21st-century-top-films-bbc-poll |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]], who had dismissed much of Lynch's earlier work, wrote: "At last his experiment doesn't shatter the test tubes. The movie is a surrealist dreamscape in the form of a Hollywood film noir, and the less sense it makes, the more we can't stop watching it."<ref>{{cite news| last=Ebert| first=Roger| title=Mulholland Drive| date=October 12, 2001| work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/mulholland-drive-2001}}</ref>

With the rising popularity of the Internet, Lynch decided to use it as a distribution channel, releasing several new series he had created exclusively on his website, davidlynch.com, which went online on December 10, 2001.<ref>{{cite web|first=Enrique|last=Rivero|url=http://www.hive4media.com/news/html/Product_article.cfm?article_ID=2849|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020604204833/http://www.hive4media.com/news/html/Product_article.cfm?article_ID=2849|title=Director David Lynch Has Do-It-Himself DVD|website=hive4media.com|archive-date=June 4, 2002|date=March 28, 2002|access-date=September 10, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2002, he created a series of online shorts, ''[[DumbLand]]''. Intentionally crude in content and execution, the eight-episode series was later released on DVD.<ref>{{cite news|title=It's Just Lynch|url=http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/screen/its_just_lynch-38410479.html|access-date=August 16, 2012|newspaper=Philadelphia Weekly|date=January 4, 2006|first=Leo|last=Charney|agency=Review Publishing Limited Partnership|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912101457/http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/screen/its_just_lynch-38410479.html|archive-date=September 12, 2012}}</ref> The same year, Lynch released a surreal sitcom, ''[[Rabbits (film)|Rabbits]]'', about a family of humanoid rabbits. Later, he made his experiments with [[DV (video format)|Digital Video]] available in the form of the Japanese-style horror short ''[[Darkened Room]]''. In 2006, Lynch's feature film ''[[Inland Empire (film)|Inland Empire]]'' was released. At three hours, it is his longest film. Like ''Mulholland Drive'' and ''Lost Highway'', it lacks a traditional narrative structure. It stars [[Laura Dern]], [[Harry Dean Stanton]], and [[Justin Theroux]], with cameos by [[Naomi Watts]] and [[Laura Harring]] as the voices of Suzie and Jane Rabbit, and a performance by [[Jeremy Irons]]. Lynch called ''Inland Empire'' "a mystery about a woman in trouble". In an effort to promote it, he made appearances with a cow and a placard bearing the slogan "Without cheese there would be no ''Inland Empire''".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Lynch-dives-within-The-cult-director-discusses-2651144.php |title=Lynch dives within |first=Neva |last=Chonin |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=February 7, 2007 |access-date=March 21, 2011 |archive-date=January 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118202403/http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-02-07/entertainment/17233482_1_inland-empire-bird-feeders-squirrels |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:David Lynch (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.75|Lynch in Moscow in 2009]]
In 2009, Lynch produced a documentary Web series directed by his son Austin Lynch and friend Jason S., ''Interview Project''.<ref>{{Cite magazine | last=Hart | first=Hugh | title=David Lynch's Interview Project Probes American Dreams | url=https://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/05/david-lynchs-interview-project-probes-american-dreams/ | magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] | date=May 30, 2009 | access-date=August 30, 2011 | archive-date=January 13, 2012 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120113075430/http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/05/david-lynchs-interview-project-probes-american-dreams/ | url-status=live }}</ref> Interested in working with [[Werner Herzog]], in 2009 Lynch collaborated on Herzog's film ''[[My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done]]''. With a nonstandard narrative, the film is based on a true story of an actor who committed [[matricide]] while acting in a production of the ''[[Oresteia]]'', and stars [[Grace Zabriskie]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Kay|first=Jeremy|date=June 22, 2010|access-date=September 1, 2011|work=[[The Guardian]]|title=Werner Herzog: a killer at the table|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jun/22/werner-herzog-david-lynch|location=London|archive-date=February 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140212235304/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jun/22/werner-herzog-david-lynch|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2009, Lynch had plans to direct a documentary on [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]] consisting of interviews with people who knew him,<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_david-lynch-to-shoot-film-about-tm-guru-maharishi-mahesh-yogi-in-india_1313317 |title=David Lynch to shoot film about TM guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India |work=Daily News & Analysis |date=November 18, 2009 |access-date=November 29, 2010 |archive-date=November 21, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091121020439/http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report_david-lynch-to-shoot-film-about-tm-guru-maharishi-mahesh-yogi-in-india_1313317 |url-status=live }}</ref> but nothing came of it.

=== 2010–2019: Return to television ===
In 2010, Lynch began making guest appearances on the ''[[Family Guy]]'' spin-off ''[[The Cleveland Show]]'' as [[List of characters in the Family Guy franchise#Stoolbend residents|Gus the Bartender]]. He had been convinced to appear in the show by its lead actor, [[Mike Henry (voice actor)|Mike Henry]], a fan of Lynch who felt that his life had changed after he saw ''Wild at Heart''.<ref>{{cite web | last = Faye | first = Denis | url = http://www.wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3802 | title = A Kinder, Gentler Family Guy | publisher = Writers Guild of America, West | access-date = November 29, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20101130153215/http://wga.org/content/default.aspx?id=3802 | archive-date = November 30, 2010 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> ''[[Lady Blue Shanghai]]'' is a 16-minute promotional film written, directed and edited by Lynch for [[Dior]]. It was released on the Internet in May 2010.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Copping|first1=Nicola|date=May 14, 2010|title=David Lynch's new film for Christian Dior|url=https://www.ft.com/content/38daed66-5ecc-11df-af86-00144feab49a?mhq5j=e1|website=[[Financial Times]]|access-date=July 8, 2017}}</ref>

Lynch directed a concert by English [[new wave music|new wave]] band [[Duran Duran]] on March 23, 2011. The concert was [[Streaming media|streamed live]] on YouTube from the [[Mayan Theater]] in Los Angeles as the kickoff to the second season of ''[[Unstaged|Unstaged: An Original Series from American Express]]''. "The idea is to try and create on the fly, layers of images permeating Duran Duran on the stage", Lynch said. "A world of experimentation and hopefully some happy accidents".<ref>{{cite web | last = Lewis | first = Dave | url = http://www.hitfix.com/articles/duran-duran-david-lynch-team-for-unstaged-streaming-concert | title = Watch: David Lynch, Duran Duran team for 'Unstaged' streaming concert | website = HitFix.com | access-date = March 22, 2011 | archive-date = March 20, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110320044849/http://www.hitfix.com/articles/duran-duran-david-lynch-team-for-unstaged-streaming-concert | url-status = live }}</ref> The animated short ''I Touch a Red Button Man'', a collaboration between Lynch and the band [[Interpol (band)|Interpol]], played in the background during Interpol's concert at the [[Coachella|Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival]] in April 2011. The short, which features Interpol's song "Lights", was later made available online.<ref name="redbutton">{{cite news |title=David Lynch/Interpol Collaboration, 'I Touch A Red Button Man' (EXCLUSIVE) |first=Gazelle |last=Emami |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/david-lynch-interpol_n_893149.html |newspaper=[[HuffPost]] |date=July 13, 2011 |access-date=October 30, 2011 |archive-date=October 28, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028220832/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/13/david-lynch-interpol_n_893149.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:David Lynch and Kyle MacLachlan at the Twin Peaks Premiere 2017.jpg|thumb|Lynch (left) with [[Kyle MacLachlan]] at the 2017 premiere of [[Twin Peaks season 3|''Twin Peaks''{{'}}s third season]]]]
It was believed that Lynch was going to retire from the film industry; according to [[Abel Ferrara]], Lynch "doesn't even want to make films any more. I've talked to him about it, OK? I can tell when he talks about it."<ref>{{cite news|last=Leigh|first=Danny|title=Has David Lynch retired, or is it just a bad dream?|date=August 19, 2011|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/aug/19/has-david-lynch-retired|access-date=September 7, 2015|archive-date=September 23, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923145537/http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2011/aug/19/has-david-lynch-retired|url-status=live}}</ref> But in a June 2012 interview, Lynch said he lacked the inspiration to start a new movie project, but "If I got an idea that I fell in love with, I'd go to work tomorrow".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-david-lynch-has-no-ideas-for-a-new-film-20120622,0,3728502.story|title=David Lynch says he doesn't have any ideas for a new film|last=Zeitchik|first=Steven|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=June 22, 2012|url-status=live|archive-date=July 9, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709000918/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-david-lynch-has-no-ideas-for-a-new-film-20120622,0,3728502.story}}</ref> In September 2012, he appeared in the three-part "Late Show" arc on FX's ''[[Louie (American TV series)|Louie]]'' as Jack Dahl. In November 2012, Lynch hinted at plans for a new film while attending [[Camerimage|Plus Camerimage]] in [[Bydgoszcz]], Poland, saying, "something is coming up. It will happen but I don't know exactly when".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screendaily.com/home/blogs/david-lynch-hints-at-new-film/5049373.article?blocktitle=Diary-Blog&contentID=2048|title=David Lynch hints at new film &#124; Diary Blog|work=[[Screen International]]|publisher=[[Ascential|Top Right Group]]|last=Rosser|first=Michael|date=November 26, 2012|access-date=November 26, 2012|archive-date=March 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130319003723/http://www.screendaily.com/home/blogs/david-lynch-hints-at-new-film/5049373.article?blocktitle=Diary-Blog&contentID=2048|url-status=live}}</ref> At Plus Camerimage, Lynch received a lifetime achievement award and the [[Freedom of the City#Key to the city|Key to the City]] from Bydgoszcz's mayor, [[Rafał Bruski]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/-david-lynch-and-keanu-reeves-open-plus-camerimage/5049367.article|title=David Lynch and Keanu Reeves open Plus Camerimage |work=[[Screen International]]|publisher=[[Ascential|Top Right Group]]|last=Rosser|first=Michael|date=November 25, 2012|access-date=November 26, 2012|archive-date=November 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121128064536/http://www.screendaily.com/festivals/-david-lynch-and-keanu-reeves-open-plus-camerimage/5049367.article|url-status=live}}</ref> In a January 2013 interview, Laura Dern confirmed that she and Lynch were planning a new project,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-0115-laura-dern-20130115,0,1823315.story|title=Laura Dern's Enlightened approach|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|last=Blake|first=Meredith|date=January 15, 2013|access-date=January 17, 2013|archive-date=January 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116133845/http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-0115-laura-dern-20130115,0,1823315.story|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/david-lynch-and-laura-dern-have-a-mysterious-project-in-the-works-1.57069|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213135727/http://www.blackbookmag.com/movies/david-lynch-and-laura-dern-have-a-mysterious-project-in-the-works-1.57069|archive-date=February 13, 2013|title=David Lynch and Laura Dern Have a Mysterious Project in the Works – Movies|work=[[BlackBook]]|last=Weston|first=Hilary|date=January 16, 2013|access-date=January 17, 2013}}</ref> and ''[[The New York Times]]'' later reported that Lynch was working on the script.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |last1=Hoffman |first1=Claire |date=February 22, 2013 |title=David Lynch Is Back … as a Guru of Transcendental Meditation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/david-lynch-transcendental-meditation.html |url-access=registration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130222211638/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/24/magazine/david-lynch-transcendental-meditation.html |archive-date=February 22, 2013 |access-date=November 22, 2020 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> ''[[Idem Paris]]'', a short documentary film about the lithographic process, was released online in February 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/david-lynch-short-film-idem-paris-recalls-the-industrial-tone-of-his-debut|title=David Lynch Short Film Idem Paris Recalls the Industrial Tone of His Debut|work=[[/Film]]|last=Fischer|first=Russ|date=February 12, 2013|access-date=February 25, 2013|archive-date=February 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130215052729/http://www.slashfilm.com/david-lynch-short-film-idem-paris-recalls-the-industrial-tone-of-his-debut/|url-status=live}}</ref> On June 28, 2013, a video Lynch directed for the [[Nine Inch Nails]] song "[[Came Back Haunted]]" was released.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/nine-inch-nails-photos-preview-came-back-haunted-clip-20130627|title=Nine Inch Nails Photos Preview 'Came Back Haunted' Clip|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|first=Jon|last=Blistein|date=June 27, 2013|access-date=August 26, 2017|archive-date=June 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629011231/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/nine-inch-nails-photos-preview-came-back-haunted-clip-20130627|url-status=live}}</ref> He also did photography for the [[Dumb Numbers]]'s self-titled album released in August 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://dumbnumbers.bandcamp.com/|title=Dumb Numbers II, by Dumb Numbers|website=Dumbnumbers.bandcamp.com|access-date=July 31, 2015|archive-date=March 7, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307040254/http://dumbnumbers.bandcamp.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 6, 2014, Lynch confirmed via Twitter that he and Frost would start shooting a new, nine-episode season of ''[[Twin Peaks season 3|Twin Peaks]]'' in 2015, with the episodes expected to air in 2016 on [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]].<ref name="revival">{{cite web |title=Twin Peaks Revival to Air on Showtime in 2016 |url=https://variety.com/2014/tv/news/twin-peaks-revival-to-air-on-showtime-in-2016-1201322329 |work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |first=Cynthia |last=Littleton |date=October 6, 2014 |access-date=October 6, 2014 |archive-date=December 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171214070105/http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/twin-peaks-revival-to-air-on-showtime-in-2016-1201322329/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Lynch and Frost wrote all the episodes. On April 5, 2015, Lynch announced via Twitter that the project was still alive, but he was no longer going to direct because the budget was too low for what he wanted to do.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2015/tv/news/twin-peaks-david-lych-leaves-as-director-1201466709/|title=David Lynch Says He Won't Direct the 'Twin Peaks' Revival|date=April 5, 2015|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|last=Stedman|first=Alex|url-status=live|archive-date=October 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171002105739/http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/twin-peaks-david-lych-leaves-as-director-1201466709/}}</ref> On May 15, 2015, he said via Twitter that he would return to the revival, having sorted out his issues with Showtime.<ref>{{cite web|last1=McCown|first1=Alex|title=David Lynch just announced he's rejoined Showtime's ''Twin Peaks''|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/david-lynch-just-announced-hes-rejoined-showtimes--219531|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|date=May 15, 2015|archive-date=August 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801062110/http://www.avclub.com/article/david-lynch-just-announced-hes-rejoined-showtimes--219531|url-status=live}}</ref> Showtime CEO David Nevins confirmed this, announcing that Lynch would direct every episode of the revival and that the original nine episodes had been extended to 18.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Yaniz|first1=Robert Jr.|title='Twin Peaks' Revival To Resolve Questions From Previous Seasons|url=https://screenrant.com/twin-peaks-season-3-revival-showtime/|website=[[Screen Rant]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|date=August 12, 2015|archive-date=August 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160804211103/http://screenrant.com/twin-peaks-season-3-revival-showtime/|url-status=live}}</ref> Filming was completed by April 2016.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Andreeva|first1=Nellie|title='Twin Peaks' Update: Premiere Set For Early 2017, David Lynch Halfway Done|url=https://deadline.com/2016/01/twin-peaks-update-premiere-date-early-2017-david-lynch-1201681533/|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|date=January 12, 2016|archive-date=August 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160803073417/http://deadline.com/2016/01/twin-peaks-update-premiere-date-early-2017-david-lynch-1201681533/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Andreeva|first1=Nellie|title='Twin Peaks': Here Is the Full Cast Of David Lynch's Showtime Reboot|url=https://deadline.com/2016/04/twin-peaks-full-cast-david-lynch-showtime-series-1201743122/|website=[[Deadline Hollywood]]|access-date=August 3, 2016|date=April 25, 2016|archive-date=April 25, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160425232427/http://deadline.com/2016/04/twin-peaks-full-cast-david-lynch-showtime-series-1201743122/|url-status=live}}</ref> The two-episode premiere aired on May 21, 2017.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/twin-peaks-season-3-david-lynch-2017-2|title='Twin Peaks' is coming back after 25 years – here's everything you need to know about it|last=Snyder|first=Chris|website=[[Business Insider]]|date=February 10, 2017|access-date=February 17, 2017|archive-date=February 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218143404/http://www.businessinsider.com/twin-peaks-season-3-david-lynch-2017-2|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:David Lynch Cannes 2017.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.7|Lynch attending the [[2017 Cannes Film Festival]]]]
While doing press for ''Twin Peaks'', Lynch was again asked if he had retired from film and seemed to confirm that he had made his last feature film, responding, "Things changed a lot&nbsp;... So many films were not doing well at the box office, even though they might have been great films and the things that were doing well at the box office weren't the things that I would want to do".<ref name="never">{{cite web |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/david-lynch-on-the-return-of-twin-peaks-and-why-he-will-never-make-another-film-20170416-gvlr60.html |title=David Lynch on the Return of ''Twin Peaks'' and Why He Will Never Make Another Film |last=Idato |first=Michael |date=May 5, 2017 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |access-date=April 16, 2020 |archive-date=May 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200528063853/https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/david-lynch-on-the-return-of-twin-peaks-and-why-he-will-never-make-another-film-20170416-gvlr60.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Lynch later said that this statement had been misconstrued: "I did not say I quit cinema, simply that nobody knows what the future holds."<ref name="never-2">{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2017/05/david-lynch-retirement-filmmaking-1201832700/ |title=David Lynch Is Not Retiring From Filmmaking After All, But His Future Still Remains Unclear |last=Sharf |first=Zack |date=May 26, 2017 |work=[[IndieWire]] |access-date=April 16, 2020 |archive-date=August 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818024728/https://www.indiewire.com/2017/05/david-lynch-retirement-filmmaking-1201832700/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===2020–2025: Weather reports and final projects ===
Lynch did weather reports on his now-defunct website in the 2000s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By9d_0wBvLM&list=PLLqW44EeDnAs4FZDcDa0DMszVYGtYVjOK&index=1| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/By9d_0wBvLM?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By9d_0wBvLM| archive-date=September 20, 2021|title=David Lynch weather report|via = YouTube| date=April 2008 }}{{cbignore}}</ref> He returned to doing weather reports in 2020 from his apartment in Los Angeles, along with two new series, ''What is David Lynch Working on Today?'', which detailed him making collages, and ''Today's Number Is...'', in which he picked a random number from 1 to 10 each day from a jar containing ten numbered ping-pong balls. In one of his weather reports, Lynch detailed a dream he had about being a German soldier shot by an American soldier on [[D-Day]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDLD_zxiuyh1IMasq9nbjrA|title=David Lynch Theater |via=YouTube|access-date=June 11, 2020|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611145918/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDLD_zxiuyh1IMasq9nbjrA|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=David Lynch ends daily weather report by recalling dream about being a dying German soldier on D-Day|url=https://www.avclub.com/david-lynch-ends-daily-weather-report-by-recalling-drea-1843952285|last=McCarter|first=Reid|date=June 8, 2020|access-date=June 11, 2020|work=[[The AV Club]] |archive-date=June 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609163354/https://news.avclub.com/david-lynch-ends-daily-weather-report-by-recalling-drea-1843952285|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of his Weather Reports featured Lynch saying he was "thinking about" songs, including songs by [[The Beatles]], [[The Rolling Stones]], [[The Everly Brothers]], and [[The Platters]]. After his final weather report on December 16, 2022, Lynch said in an April 2023 interview that the series, along with ''What is David Lynch Working on Today?'' and ''Today's Number Is...'', would not return, adding: "Now I can sleep longer in the morning. I had to get up very early to consult the real weather bulletin. In two years I have not missed a single one."<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pulver |first=Andrew |date=April 24, 2023 |title='It's all in the damn history books': David Lynch rails against the death of cinemas |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/apr/24/its-all-in-the-damn-history-books-david-lynch-rails-against-the-death-of-cinemas |access-date=June 9, 2024 |work=[[The Guardian]] |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

[[File:John Ford 3 Allan Warren.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|Lynch portrayed director [[John Ford]] ''(pictured, 1973)'' in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s ''[[The Fabelmans]]'' (2022).]]
In June 2020, Lynch rereleased his 2002 web series ''[[Rabbits (film)|Rabbits]]'' on YouTube.<ref>{{cite web|title=David Lynch Shares 2002-Era Web Series 'Rabbits' to YouTube|url=https://hypebeast.com/2020/6/david-lynch-shares-2002-era-web-series-rabbits-to-youtube|last=Zhang|first=Charlie|date=June 9, 2020|access-date=June 11, 2020|website=[[Hypebeast (website)|Hypebeast]]|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611200514/https://hypebeast.com/2020/6/david-lynch-shares-2002-era-web-series-rabbits-to-youtube|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=David Lynch's creepy web series 'Rabbits' is back online|url=https://www.engadget.com/david-lynchs-creepy-web-series-rabbits-is-back-online-100002786.html|last=England|first=Rachel|date=June 10, 2020|access-date=June 11, 2020|work=[[Engadget]]|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611101511/https://www.engadget.com/david-lynchs-creepy-web-series-rabbits-is-back-online-100002786.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On July 17, 2020, his store for merchandise released a set of face masks with Lynch's art on them for the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States|COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{Cite news|title= David Lynch Now Has Line of Face Masks|url= https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/333752/studio-david-lynch-now-has-line-of-face-masks/|last=Millican|first=Josh|date=July 17, 2020|access-date=July 20, 2020|work=Dread Central|archive-date=July 19, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719110403/https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/333752/studio-david-lynch-now-has-line-of-face-masks/|url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2022, it was announced that Lynch had been cast in [[Steven Spielberg]]'s semi-autobiographical film ''[[The Fabelmans]]'' in a role ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called "a closely guarded secret". Lynch played [[John Ford]], whom the young Spielberg met, an encounter Spielberg considers formative. [[Gabriel LaBelle]] played Spielberg's alter ego [[Sammy Fabelman]], and Lynch as Ford offers the young man advice on filmmaking.<ref name="Murphy-Variety-2022">{{cite web |last1=Murphy |first1=J. Kim |title=David Lynch Joins Cast of Steven Spielberg's 'The Fabelmans' (Exclusive) |url=https://variety.com/2022/film/news/david-lynch-the-fabelmans-steven-spielberg-1235172006/ |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=February 4, 2022 |access-date=February 5, 2022}}</ref> Lynch and the cast were nominated for the [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture]].<ref>{{cite web|url= https://deadline.com/2023/01/2023-sag-awards-nominations-list-film-tv-nominees-screen-actors-guild-1235216790/|title= SAG Awards Nominations: The Complete List|website= [[Deadline Hollywood]]|date= January 11, 2023|accessdate= January 21, 2023}}</ref> [[J. Hoberman]] wrote: "Mr. Lynch never made a conventional, crowd-pleasing Hollywood movie. But in 2022, he agreed to a cameo in one: Mr. Spielberg's autobiographical feature ''The Fabelmans'', where the enigmatic if not eldritch Mr. Lynch was cast as John Ford, the maker of westerns and the grand old curmudgeon of American cinema. It was a sentimental gesture that one can only call Lynchian."<ref name=Hoberman/>

== Other work ==

=== Unrealized projects ===
{{Main|David Lynch's unrealized projects}}
Lynch worked on a number of projects that never progressed beyond the [[pre-production]] stage. Some of them fell into [[development hell]] and others were officially canceled.<ref name="Unproduced1">{{cite web |title=David Lynch - Unproduced Works |url=http://www.lynchnet.com/upfilms.html |website=LynchNet}}</ref><ref name="Unproduced2">{{cite web |last=Bachman |first=Mara |date=June 17, 2020 |title=Every Unmade David Lynch Movie |url=https://screenrant.com/every-unmade-david-lynch-movie/ |access-date=November 15, 2023 |website=[[Screen Rant]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gilchrist |first1=Todd |last2=Saperstein |first2=Pat |date=January 16, 2025 |title=The David Lynch Projects That Never Got Made, From 'Ronnie Rocket' to 'Dune Messiah' and 'Wisteria' |url=https://variety.com/2025/film/news/david-lynch-projects-never-made-ronnie-rocket-dune-messiah-1236276213/ |website=Variety}}</ref>

=== ''The Angriest Dog in the World'' ===
In 1983, Lynch began writing and drawing a [[comic strip]], ''[[The Angriest Dog in the World]]'', that featured unchanging graphics of a tethered dog so angry it could not move, alongside cryptic philosophical references. It was published from 1983 to 1992 in ''[[The Village Voice]]'', ''[[Creative Loafing]]'', and other tabloid and alternative publications.<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|109}} Around this time Lynch also became interested in photography and traveled to northern England to photograph its degrading industrial landscape.<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|109–111}}

=== ''The Cowboy and the Frenchman'' ===
Lynch directed a short film, ''[[The Cowboy and the Frenchman]]'' (1988), as part of ''[[The French as Seen by...]]'', a series sponsored by the French newspaper ''[[Le Figaro]]''. The other directors commissioned for the series were [[Werner Herzog]], [[Andrzej Wajda]], [[Luigi Comencini]], and [[Jean-Luc Godard]]. 

===''Industrial Symphony No. 1''===
While ''Twin Peaks'' was in production, the [[Brooklyn Academy of Music]] asked Lynch and Badalamenti to create a theatrical piece to be performed twice in 1989 as a part of the [[New Music America Festival]]. The result was ''[[Industrial Symphony No.&nbsp;1]]: The Dream of the Broken Hearted'', which starred frequent Lynch collaborators [[Laura Dern]], [[Nicolas Cage]], and [[Michael J. Anderson]] and contained five songs sung by [[Julee Cruise]]. Lynch produced a 50-minute video of the performance in 1990.<ref name="leblancodell" />{{rp|55–56}}

===Painting===
[[File:Lynch's So This is Love painting.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.25|Lynch painted ''So This Is Love'' in 1992.]]
Lynch first trained as a painter, and although better known as a filmmaker, continued to paint. He said: "all my paintings are organic, violent comedies. They have to be violently done and primitive and crude, and to achieve that I try to let nature paint more than I paint."<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|22}} Many of his works are very dark in color; Lynch said this was because:

{{blockquote|I wouldn't know what to do with [color]. Color to me is too real. It's limiting. It doesn't allow too much of a dream. The more you throw black into a color, the more dreamy it gets&nbsp;... Black has depth. It's like a little egress; you can go into it, and because it keeps on continuing to be dark, the mind kicks in, and a lot of things that are going on in there become manifest. And you start seeing what you're afraid of. You start seeing what you love, and it becomes like a dream.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|20}}}}

Many of Lynch's paintings contain letters and words. He said:

{{blockquote|The words in the paintings are sometimes important to make you start thinking about what else is going on in there. And a lot of times, the words excite me as shapes, and something'll grow out of that. I used to cut these little letters out and glue them on. They just look good all lined up like teeth&nbsp;... sometimes they become the title of the painting.<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|22}}}}

Lynch was the subject of a major art retrospective at the [[Fondation Cartier]] in Paris from March 3 to May 27, 2007. The show was titled ''The Air is on Fire'' and included paintings, photographs, drawings, alternative films and sound work. New site-specific art installations were created specially for the exhibition. A series of events, including live performances and concerts, accompanied the exhibition.<ref>{{cite news |last=Wyatt |first=Caroline |date=March 2, 2007 |title=David Lynch's dark arts laid bare |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6412525.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100208154450/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6412525.stm |archive-date=February 8, 2010 |access-date=May 1, 2010 |work=BBC News}}</ref> Lynch's alma mater, the [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]], presented an exhibition of his work called "The Unified Field", which ran from September 12, 2014, to January 2015.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 27, 2014 |title=David Lynch: The Unified Field |url=https://www.pafa.org/davidlynch |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180225205447/https://www.pafa.org/davidlynch |archive-date=February 25, 2018 |access-date=May 1, 2017 |work=pafa.org}}</ref> Lynch was represented by Kayne Griffin Corcoran in Los Angeles, and began exhibiting his paintings, drawings, and photography with the gallery in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 7, 2018 |title='I Like Dogs with a Human Head': David Lynch Shows New Paintings in Los Angeles |url=http://www.artnews.com/2018/09/07/like-dogs-human-head-david-lynch-shows-new-paintings-los-angeles/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181021024651/http://www.artnews.com/2018/09/07/like-dogs-human-head-david-lynch-shows-new-paintings-los-angeles/ |archive-date=October 21, 2018 |access-date=October 20, 2018 |website=ARTnews}}</ref>

Lynch considered the 20th-century Irish-born British artist [[Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon]] his "number one kinda hero painter", saying, "Normally I only like a couple of years of a painter's work, but I like everything of Bacon's. The guy, you know, had the stuff."<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|16–17}} His favorite photographers included [[William Eggleston]] (''[[The Red Ceiling]]''), [[Joel-Peter Witkin]] and [[Diane Arbus]].<ref>{{cite web |date=January 13, 2014 |title=David Lynch interview: 'There is something so incredibly cosmically magical about curtains' |url=https://www.timeout.com/london/art/david-lynch-interview-there-is-something-so-incredibly-cosmically-magical-about-curtains |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729022756/https://www.timeout.com/london/art/david-lynch-interview-there-is-something-so-incredibly-cosmically-magical-about-curtains |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |access-date=April 16, 2020 |website=Time Out}}</ref>

===Music===
[[File:David Lynch -microphone -10Aug2007-2p (cropped).jpg|thumb|Lynch in 2007]]
Lynch was involved in several music projects, many of them related to his films, including sound design for some of his films (sometimes alongside collaborators [[Alan Splet]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Q&A with David Lynch's Music Collaborator Dean Hurley – Part 2: Being Open Creatively and Knowing When to Walk Away |url=https://www.synchtank.com/blog/qa-with-david-lynchs-music-collaborator-dean-hurley-part-2-being-open-creatively-and-knowing-when-to-walk-away/ |access-date=June 12, 2024 |website=Synchtank |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Dean Hurley]],<ref>{{Cite web |author-last1=Jordan |author-first1=Randolph |title=Three Soundtrack Albums and a Record Player: A Twin Peaks Music Review (Sort Of) |url=https://offscreen.com/view/three-soundtrack-albums-and-a-record-player-a-twin-peaks-music-review |access-date=June 12, 2024 |website=offscreen.com |language=en}}</ref> and [[Angelo Badalamenti]]<ref name="Guardian">{{cite web |last1=Lynskey |first1=Dorian |date=March 24, 2017 |title='Make it like the wind, Angelo': How the Twin Peaks soundtrack came to haunt music for nearly 30 years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/mar/24/twin-peaks-soundtrack-david-lynch-angelo-badalamenti |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112005507/https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/mar/24/twin-peaks-soundtrack-david-lynch-angelo-badalamenti |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |access-date=November 25, 2020 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>). His album genres included [[experimental rock]], [[ambient music|ambient]] soundscapes and, most recently, avant-garde [[electropop]] music. He produced and wrote lyrics for [[Julee Cruise]]'s first two albums, ''[[Floating into the Night]]'' (1989) and ''[[The Voice of Love (Julee Cruise album)|The Voice of Love]]'' (1993), in collaboration with Badalamenti, who wrote the music and also produced. In 1991, Lynch directed a 30-second teaser trailer for [[Michael Jackson]]'s album [[Dangerous (Michael Jackson album)|''Dangerous'']] at Jackson's request.<ref>{{cite news |date=June 13, 2018 |title=David Lynch on Michael Jackson and That Crazy Frog From 'Twin Peaks' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/arts/television/david-lynch-room-to-dream.html |access-date=June 13, 2018 |work=The New York Times}}</ref> He also worked on the 1998 [[Jocelyn Montgomery]] album ''Lux Vivens (Living Light), The Music of Hildegard von Bingen''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lux Vivens: the Music of Hildegard von Bingen Jocelyn Montgomery |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/lux-vivens-the-music-of-hildegard-von-bingen-mw0000600349 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827142638/https://www.allmusic.com/album/lux-vivens-the-music-of-hildegard-von-bingen-mw0000600349 |archive-date=August 27, 2018 |access-date=August 27, 2022 |work=AllMusic}}</ref> Lynch wrote music for ''Wild at Heart'', ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'', ''Mulholland Drive'', and ''Rabbits''. In 2001, he released ''[[BlueBob]]'', a [[blues]] album performed by Lynch and John Neff. The album is notable for Lynch's unusual guitar playing style. He plays "upside down and backwards, like a lap guitar", and relies heavily on effects pedals.<ref>{{cite web |title=BOSS Users Group magazine Vol.&nbsp;5, No.&nbsp;1 Summer 2001 |url=http://www.lynchnet.com/articles/bug.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525095227/http://www.lynchnet.com/articles/bug.html |archive-date=May 25, 2011 |access-date=July 6, 2011 |website=Lynchnet.com}}</ref> Lynch wrote several pieces for ''Inland Empire'', including two songs, "Ghost of Love" and "Walkin' on the Sky", in which he made his public debut as a singer. In 2009, his book-CD set ''[[Danger Mouse and Sparklehorse Present: Dark Night of the Soul|Dark Night of the Soul]]'' was released.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Music – New Music News, Reviews, Pictures, and Videos |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/05/15/danger-mouses-dark-night-of-the-soul-album-threatened-by-lawsuit/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100225131420/http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/05/15/danger-mouses-dark-night-of-the-soul-album-threatened-by-lawsuit/ |archive-date=February 25, 2010 |access-date=August 26, 2017 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]}}</ref> In 2008, he started his own record label, David Lynch MC, which first released ''Fox Bat Strategy: A Tribute to Dave Jaurequi'' in early 2009.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rawls |first=Alex |date=July 1, 2009 |title=Fox Bat Strategy, A Tribute to Dave Jaurequi (Absurda) |url=https://www.offbeat.com/music/fox-bat-strategy-a-tribute-to-dave-jaurequi-absurda/ |access-date=August 18, 2009 |website=[[OffBeat (music magazine)|OffBeat]]}}</ref>

In November 2010, Lynch released two [[electropop]] music singles, "Good Day Today" and "I Know", on the independent British label [[Sunday Best (music company)|Sunday Best Recordings]]. Of the songs, he said, "I was just sitting and these notes came and then I went down and started working with Dean [Hurley] and then these few notes, 'I want to have a good day, today' came and the song was built around that".<ref>{{cite news |last=Topping |first=Alexandra |date=November 28, 2010 |title=The latest offbeat experiment from filmmaker David Lynch: pop singles |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/nov/28/david-lynch-turns-pop-singer-songwriter?intcmp=239 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140907235505/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/nov/28/david-lynch-turns-pop-singer-songwriter?intcmp=239 |archive-date=September 7, 2014 |access-date=November 30, 2010 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> The singles were followed by an album, ''[[Crazy Clown Time]]'', which was released in November 2011 and described as an "electronic blues album".<ref name="clowntime">{{cite news |last=Lynch |first=David |date=November 11, 2011 |title=Music, Not Movies, But Still Exploring Places of Darkness |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/arts/music/david-lynchs-album-crazy-clown-time.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120105080834/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/13/arts/music/david-lynchs-album-crazy-clown-time.html |archive-date=January 5, 2012 |access-date=January 30, 2012 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> The songs were sung by Lynch, with guest vocals on one track by [[Karen O]] of the [[Yeah Yeah Yeahs]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Powell |first=Mike |date=November 8, 2011 |title=Crazy Clown Time |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15999-david-lynch-crazy-clown-time/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117234805/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/15999-david-lynch-crazy-clown-time/ |archive-date=January 17, 2012 |access-date=January 30, 2012 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref> and composed and performed by Lynch and Hurley.<ref name="clowntime" /> All or most of the songs on ''Crazy Clown Time'' were put into art-music videos, with Lynch directing the title song's video.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caWXt9lCVrc |title=David Lynch – Crazy Clown Time (Official Video) |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/caWXt9lCVrc?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caWXt9lCVrc |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdDGFZhoVT0 |title=David Lynch Feat. Karen O – Pinky's Dream (Unofficial Video) |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/IdDGFZhoVT0?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdDGFZhoVT0 |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IugOfDBWcGc |title=David Lynch 'Good Day Today' (Official Video) |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/IugOfDBWcGc?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IugOfDBWcGc |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cph9o8faQUo |title=David Lynch – So Glad |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/Cph9o8faQUo?url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cph9o8faQUo |archive-date=September 20, 2021 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On September 29, 2011, Lynch released ''This Train'' with vocalist and longtime musical collaborator [[Chrystabell]] on the La Rose Noire label.<ref>{{cite web |last=Battan |first=Carrie |date=September 14, 2011 |title=David Lynch Unveils Album Cover Art |url=https://www.pitchfork.com/news/43992-david-lynch-unveils-album-cover-art/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729034609/https://pitchfork.com/news/43992-david-lynch-unveils-album-cover-art/ |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |access-date=April 16, 2020 |website=Pitchfork}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Strauss |first=Matthew |date=August 9, 2016 |title=David Lynch and Chrysta Bell Team Up for New EP |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/67416-david-lynch-and-chrysta-bell-team-up-for-new-ep/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729040721/https://pitchfork.com/news/67416-david-lynch-and-chrysta-bell-team-up-for-new-ep/ |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |access-date=April 16, 2020 |website=Pitchfork}}</ref> Lynch's second studio album, ''[[The Big Dream]]'', was released in 2013 and included the single "[[I'm Waiting Here]]", with Swedish singer-songwriter [[Lykke Li]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Minkser |first=Evan |date=June 3, 2013 |title=David Lynch Announces New Album, The Big Dream, Shares Track Featuring Lykke Li |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/50983-david-lynch-announces-new-album-the-big-dream-shares-track-featuring-lykke-li |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605211558/http://pitchfork.com/news/50983-david-lynch-announces-new-album-the-big-dream-shares-track-featuring-lykke-li/ |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |access-date=June 3, 2013 |website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]}}</ref> ''The Big Dream''{{'}}s release was preceded by ''TBD716'', an enigmatic 43-second video featured on Lynch's YouTube and [[Vine (app)|Vine]] accounts.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 31, 2013 |title=Video of the day: David Lynch's TBD716 |url=http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/video-of-the-day-david-lynchs-tbd716 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608001424/http://mubi.com/notebook/posts/video-of-the-day-david-lynchs-tbd716 |archive-date=June 8, 2013 |access-date=June 3, 2013 |work=Notebook |publisher=[[MUBI]]}}</ref> For Record Store Day 2014, Lynch released ''The Big Dream Remix EP'', which featured four songs from his album remixed by various artists. This included the track "Are You Sure" remixed by the band [[Bastille (band)|Bastille]], which is known to have been inspired by Lynch's work for its songs and videos, especially the song "[[Laura Palmer (song)|Laura Palmer]]".<ref>{{cite web |date=March 11, 2014 |title=David Lynch collaborates with Moby and Bastille for Record Store Day EP – listen |url=https://nme.com/news/david-lynch/75997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140426214824/http://www.nme.com/news/david-lynch/75997 |archive-date=April 26, 2014 |access-date=April 26, 2014 |website=[[NME]]}}</ref>

In November 2018, a collaborative album by Lynch and Badalamenti, ''[[Thought Gang]]'', was released on vinyl and compact disc. The album was recorded around 1993 but not released at the time. Two tracks from it appear on the soundtrack for ''Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'' and three others were used for ''Twin Peaks: The Return''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Blais-Billie |first=Braudie |date=September 18, 2018 |title=David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti's Lost '90s Album Is Getting Released |url=https://pitchfork.com/news/david-lynch-and-angelo-badalamentis-lost-90s-album-is-getting-released/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919171917/https://pitchfork.com/news/david-lynch-and-angelo-badalamentis-lost-90s-album-is-getting-released/ |archive-date=September 19, 2018 |access-date=August 27, 2022 |work=Pitchfork}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Bemrose |first=Bekki |title=Thought Gang Review |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/thought-gang-mw0003211114 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181112223528/https://www.allmusic.com/album/thought-gang-mw0003211114 |archive-date=November 12, 2018 |access-date=August 27, 2022 |work=AllMusic}}</ref> In May 2019, Lynch provided guest vocals on the track "Fire is Coming" by [[Flying Lotus]]. He also co-wrote the track that appears on Flying Lotus's album ''[[Flamagra]]''. A video accompanying the song was released on April 17, 2019.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Blistein |first=Jon |date=April 17, 2019 |title=Flying Lotus Previews New Album With Freaky David Lynch Collaboration |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/flying-lotus-david-lynch-new-song-fire-is-coming-video-823372/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190605091959/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/flying-lotus-david-lynch-new-song-fire-is-coming-video-823372/ |archive-date=June 5, 2019 |access-date=August 27, 2022 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref> In May 2021, Lynch produced a track, "[[I Am the Shaman]]", by Scottish artist [[Donovan]]. The song was released on May 10, Donovan's 75th birthday. Lynch also directed the accompanying video.<ref>{{cite web |last=Cazanov |first=Jeff |date=April 16, 2012 |title=Donovan is Back! |url=https://www.rockcellarmagazine.com/donovan-is-back/ |access-date=December 23, 2021 |website=rockcellarmagazine.com}}</ref>

In August 2024, Lynch released his final album, ''[[Cellophane Memories]]'', a collaboration between him and Chrystabell. He also directed videos for two tracks on the album, "Sublime Eternal Love" and "The Answers to the Questions".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Breihan |first=Tom |date=June 5, 2024 |title=Chrystabell & David Lynch – "Sublime Eternal Love" |url=https://www.stereogum.com/2266558/chrystabell-david-lynch-sublime-eternal-love/music/ |access-date=August 2, 2024 |website=[[Stereogum]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Zilko |first=Christian |date=July 9, 2024 |title=David Lynch Directs Animated Music Video for His New Song 'The Answers to the Questions' with Chrystabell |url=https://www.indiewire.com/news/general-news/david-lynch-new-music-video-the-answers-to-the-questions-chyrstabell-1235023830/ |access-date=August 2, 2024 |website=[[IndieWire]]}}</ref>

===Design===
Lynch designed and constructed furniture for his 1997 film ''Lost Highway'', including the small table in the Madison house and the VCR case. In April 1997, he presented a furniture collection at the prestigious [[Milan Furniture Fair]]. "Design and music, art and architecture—they all belong together", he said.<ref>{{cite web |title=The City of Absurdity: David Lynch's Furniture |url=http://cityofabsurdity.com/furniture.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120310220737/http://cityofabsurdity.com/furniture.html |archive-date=March 10, 2012 |access-date=October 16, 2011 |website=Cityofabsurdity.com}}</ref>

Working with designer Raphael Navot, architectural agency Enia, and light designer Thierry Dreyfus, Lynch conceived and designed a nightclub in Paris, Silencio.<ref>{{cite web |date=September 7, 2011 |title=Silencio by David Lynch |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2011/09/07/silencio-by-david-lynch/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220140719/https://www.dezeen.com/2011/09/07/silencio-by-david-lynch/ |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |access-date=December 12, 2016 |website=Dezeen.com}}</ref> It opened in October 2011, and is a private members' club, but is free to the public after midnight. Patrons have access to concerts, films, and other performances by artists and guests. Inspired by the club of the same name in ''Mulholland Drive'', the underground space consists of a series of rooms, each dedicated to a certain purpose or atmosphere. "Silencio is something dear to me. I wanted to create an intimate space where all the arts could come together. There won't be a Warhol-like guru, but it will be open to celebrated artists of all disciplines to come here to program or create what they want."<ref>{{cite news |last=Gibbons |first=Fiachra |date=August 31, 2011 |title=Inside David Lynch's Paris nightclub |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/31/david-lynch-disco-paris?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729110534/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2011/aug/31/david-lynch-disco-paris?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038%2F |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |access-date=December 28, 2020 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

===Literature===
In 2006, Lynch wrote a short book, ''[[Catching the Big Fish|Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity]]'', which describes his creative processes, stories from his career, and the benefits he realized from his practice of [[Transcendental Meditation]]. He describes the metaphor behind the title in the introduction:

{{blockquote|Ideas are like fish.

If you want to catch little fish, you can stay in the shallow water. But if you want to catch the big fish, you've got to go deeper.

Down deep, the fish are more powerful and more pure. They're huge and abstract. And they're very beautiful.}}

The book weaves a nonlinear autobiography with descriptions of Lynch's experiences during Transcendental Meditation.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lynch |first1=David |url={{Google books|qQqitBgFpOkC|plainurl=yes}} |title=Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity |date=2006 |publisher=The Penguin Group |isbn=978-1-58542-540-2 |page=1 |access-date=June 14, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140711115831/http://books.google.com/books?id=qQqitBgFpOkC |archive-date=July 11, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref> Lynch also narrated it in an audiobook.

Working with [[Kristine McKenna]], Lynch published a biography-memoir hybrid, ''[[Room to Dream]]'', in June 2018.<ref>{{cite web |title=Book Marks reviews of Room to Dream by David Lynch and Kristine McKenna |url=https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/room-to-dream/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630025132/https://bookmarks.reviews/reviews/room-to-dream/ |archive-date=June 30, 2018 |access-date=June 29, 2018 |website=bookmarks.reviews |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Website===
Lynch designed his personal website, a site exclusive to paying members, where he posted short videos, his [[absurdism|absurdist]] series ''[[Dumbland]]'', interviews, and other items. The site also featured a daily [[Weather forecasting|weather report]] where Lynch gave a brief description of the weather in Los Angeles, where he resided. He continued to broadcast this report (usually no longer than 30 seconds) on his personal YouTube channel, ''DAVID LYNCH THEATER'', along with "TODAY'S NUMBER", where he drew a random number between one and ten out of a bingo cage.<ref name="The mystery of David Lynch's daily lottery">{{cite web |last1=Dawson |first1=Brit |date=September 29, 2020 |title=The mystery of David Lynch's daily lottery |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/film-tv/article/50592/1/the-mystery-of-david-lynch-daily-lottery-youtube-channel |access-date=July 8, 2022 |website=Dazed Digital}}</ref><ref name="David Lynch gives a weather report from LA">{{cite web |date=May 12, 2020 |title=David Lynch gives a weather report from LA |url=https://hero-magazine.com/article/171626/david-lynch-gives-a-weather-report-from-la |access-date=July 8, 2022 |website=HERO}}</ref> Lynch also created a short film, "Rabbits", for his website.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0347840/ |title=Rabbits |publisher=[[IMDb]] }}</ref>

Lynch was a coffee drinker and had his own line of special organic blends available for purchase on his website and at [[Whole Foods Market|Whole Foods]].<ref>{{cite press release |title=Whole Foods Market® and Filmmaker David Lynch Pour New Signature Coffee Line |date=August 20, 2013 |publisher=Whole Foods Market |location=Los Angeles, CA |url=http://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/news/whole-foods-market-and-filmmaker-david-lynch-pour-new-signature-coffee-line |access-date=August 22, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713065818/http://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/news/whole-foods-market-and-filmmaker-david-lynch-pour-new-signature-coffee-line |archive-date=July 13, 2015 |website=Newsroom}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Hollyman |first=Helen |date=July 17, 2014 |title=David Lynch's Philosophy on Drinking Coffee |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/david-lynchs-philosophy-on-drinking-coffee/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818221055/https://munchies.vice.com/en_us/article/xy73bq/david-lynchs-philosophy-on-drinking-coffee |archive-date=August 18, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017 |website=Vice Munchies |language=en}}</ref> Called "David Lynch Signature Cup", the coffee has been advertised via flyers included with several Lynch-related DVD releases, including ''Inland Empire'' and the Gold Box edition of ''Twin Peaks''. The brand's tagline is "It's all in the beans ... and I'm just full of beans",<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Twin Peaks Definitive Gold Box Edition |type=Flyer included in DVD Set |year=2007 |chapter=David Lynch Signature Cup}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |title=Eraserhead (Digitally Remastered) |type=Flyer included in DVD Set |year=2006 |chapter=David Lynch Signature Cup}}</ref> a line [[Justin Theroux]]'s character says in ''Inland Empire''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Rawson-Jones |first=Ben |date=February 14, 2012 |title=David Lynch: 10 reasons to worship the Twin Peaks surrealist |url=https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a364477/david-lynch-10-reasons-to-worship-the-twin-peaks-surrealist/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210417014835/https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a364477/david-lynch-10-reasons-to-worship-the-twin-peaks-surrealist/ |archive-date=April 17, 2021 |access-date=August 22, 2015 |website=[[Digital Spy]]}}</ref>

==Personal life==
===Relationships===
[[File:Isabella Rossellini David Lynch Cannes.jpg|thumb|Lynch with [[Isabella Rossellini]] at the [[1990 Cannes Film Festival]].]]
Lynch had several long-term relationships. In January 1968, he married Peggy Reavey,<ref name="Room-to-Dream" /> with whom he had one child, [[Jennifer Lynch]], a film director.<ref>{{cite web|last=Jones|first=J.R.|date=May 3, 2017|title=For David Lynch, nothing was scarier than dear old dad|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/david-lynch-art-life-twin-peaks-eraserhead/Content?oid=26393970|website=ChicagoReader.com|access-date=October 26, 2020|archive-date=October 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028105255/https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/david-lynch-art-life-twin-peaks-eraserhead/Content?oid=26393970|url-status=live}}</ref> They filed for divorce in 1974.<ref name="Vulture180625">{{cite magazine|last=Marchese|first=David|date=June 25, 2018|title=In Conversation: David Lynch|url=https://www.vulture.com/2018/06/david-lynch-in-conversation.html|magazine=Vulture|access-date=October 26, 2020|url-access=subscription|archive-date=October 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028210341/https://www.vulture.com/2018/06/david-lynch-in-conversation.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In June 1977, Lynch married Mary Fisk, with whom he had one child, Austin Jack Lynch, in 1982.<ref>{{cite web|last=Woodward|first=Richard B.|date=January 14, 1990|title=A Dark Lens on America|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/14/magazine/a-dark-lens-on-america.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=October 26, 2020|url-access=registration|archive-date=June 4, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604135046/http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/14/magazine/a-dark-lens-on-america.html|url-status=live}}</ref> They separated in 1985 and divorced in 1987.<ref name="Vulture180625" /> Lynch had a relationship with actress [[Isabella Rossellini]] and lived with her between 1986 and 1991. In 1992, he and his editor [[Mary Sweeney]] had a son, Riley Sweeney Lynch.<ref>{{cite web|date=April 1, 2011|title=Mary Sweeney – 'Baraboo' |url=https://pbswisconsin.org/watch/directors-cut/directors-cut-mary-sweeney-baraboo/|publisher=[[PBS Wisconsin]]|access-date=October 26, 2020|archive-date=October 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028204839/https://pbswisconsin.org/watch/directors-cut/directors-cut-mary-sweeney-baraboo/|url-status=live}}</ref> Sweeney also worked as Lynch's producer and co-wrote and produced ''[[The Straight Story]]''. The two married in May 2006, but filed for divorce that June.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Acoymo|first1=Mary Margaret|last2=Keith|first2=Amy Elisa|date=June 14, 2006|title=David Lynch, Wife Split After 1 Month|url=https://people.com/celebrity/david-lynch-wife-split-after-1-month/|work=People|access-date=October 26, 2020|archive-date=October 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028211315/https://people.com/celebrity/david-lynch-wife-split-after-1-month/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2009, Lynch married actress Emily Stofle,<ref name="II120908" /> who appeared in his 2006 film ''[[Inland Empire (film)|Inland Empire]]'' as well as the [[Twin Peaks season 3|2017 revival of ''Twin Peaks'']]. The couple had one child, Lula Boginia Lynch, in 2012.<ref name="II120908">{{cite news|date=September 8, 2012|title=Director David Lynch and wife welcome first daughter|url=https://www.independent.ie/woman/celeb-news/director-david-lynch-and-wife-welcome-first-daughter-26895824.html|work=[[Irish Independent]]|access-date=October 26, 2020|archive-date=October 28, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028212020/https://www.independent.ie/woman/celeb-news/director-david-lynch-and-wife-welcome-first-daughter-26895824.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Stofle filed for divorce in 2023. A divorce settlement agreement was reached on December 20, 2024, but the court had not issued a final divorce decree at the time of Lynch's death.

===Political and public views===
[[File:David Lynch 2016.jpg|thumb|Lynch in 2016]]
In 2009, Lynch signed a petition in support of director [[Roman Polanski]] after Polanski was detained while traveling to a film festival arrest on his 1977 [[Roman Polanski sexual abuse case|sexual abuse charges]]. The petition argued the arrest would undermine the tradition of film festivals as a place for works to be shown "freely and safely", and that arresting filmmakers traveling to neutral countries could open the door "for actions of which no-one can know the effects."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shoard |first1=Catherine |author2=agencies |date=September 29, 2009 |title=Release Polanski, demands petition by film industry luminaries |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/sep/29/roman-polanski-petition |url-status=live |work=The Guardian |archive-url=https://archive.today/20180108124633/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/sep/29/roman-polanski-petition |archive-date=January 8, 2018 |access-date=August 29, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=June 4, 2012 |title=Le cinéma soutient Roman Polanski / Petition for Roman Polanski – SACD |url=http://www.sacd.fr/Le-cinema-soutient-Roman-Polanski-Petition-for-Roman-Polanski.1340.0.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120604100742/http://www.sacd.fr/Le-cinema-soutient-Roman-Polanski-Petition-for-Roman-Polanski.1340.0.html |archive-date=June 4, 2012 |access-date=April 20, 2022 |website=sacd.fr}}</ref>

Lynch said he was "not a political person" and knew little about politics.<ref name="barney">{{cite book |last=Barney |first=Richard A. |url={{Google books|9dTCkwmvEyIC|plainurl=yes}} |title=David Lynch: Interviews |publisher=[[University Press of Mississippi]] |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-60473-236-8 |access-date=January 12, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160428075845/https://books.google.com/books?id=9dTCkwmvEyIC |archive-date=April 28, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|103}} Describing his political philosophy in 2006, he said, "at that time [the 1990s], I thought of myself as a [[Libertarianism|libertarian]]. I believed in next to zero government. And I still would lean toward no government and not so many rules, except for traffic lights and things like this. I really believe in traffic regulations."<ref name="reason">{{cite web |date=December 11, 2006 |title=Was David Lynch the Original Libertarian Democrat? |url=https://reason.com/2006/12/11/was-david-lynch-the-original-l/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025220834/http://reason.com/blog/2006/12/11/was-david-lynch-the-original-l |archive-date=October 25, 2014 |access-date=October 25, 2014 |website=[[Reason (magazine)|Reason]]}}</ref> He continued: "I'm a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] now. And I've always been a Democrat, really. But I don't like the Democrats a lot, either, because I'm a smoker, and I think a lot of the Democrats have come up with these rules for non-smoking."<ref name="reason" /> He said he voted for [[Ronald Reagan]] in the [[1984 United States presidential election|1984 presidential election]]; in the [[2000 U.S. presidential election|2000 presidential election]] he endorsed the [[Natural Law Party (United States)|Natural Law Party]], which advocated [[Transcendental Meditation]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Lim |first=Dennis |date=June 29, 2018 |title=Donald Trump's America and the Visions of David Lynch |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/donald-trumps-america-and-the-visions-of-david-lynch |access-date=February 29, 2024 |magazine=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}</ref><ref name="barney" /> In the [[2012 U.S. presidential election|2012 presidential election]] he said he would vote for Democratic incumbent [[Barack Obama]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Lynch |first=David |title=Reason 52: I Have Noticed Something in Mitt Romney's name. |url=http://90days90reasons.com/52.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103074940/http://90days90reasons.com/52.php |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |access-date=October 26, 2012 |work=90 Days, 90 Reasons}}</ref>

In the [[2016 U.S. presidential election]], Lynch endorsed [[Bernie Sanders]],<ref>{{cite tweet |user=DAVID_LYNCH |first=David |last=Lynch |date=March 29, 2016 |title=Dear Twtter Friends, YAY! BERNIE SANDERS FOR PRESIDENT!!! |number=714871987043078144 |access-date=March 29, 2016}}</ref> whom he described as "for the people".<ref>{{cite tweet |user=DAVID_LYNCH |first=David |last=Lynch |date=April 26, 2016 |title=Dear Bernie Sanders, You are for the people. Great good luck to you going forward!!! |number=724991687286628352 }}</ref> He voted for Sanders in the [[2016 Democratic Party presidential primaries|2016 Democratic primaries]]<ref name="Carrol">{{cite news |last=Carrol |first=Rory |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jun/23/david-lynch-gotta-be-selfish-twin-peaks#comments |title=David Lynch: 'You gotta be selfish. It's a terrible thing' |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=June 25, 2018 |access-date=June 25, 2018 |archive-date=June 24, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624213836/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/jun/23/david-lynch-gotta-be-selfish-twin-peaks#comments |url-status=live }}</ref> and for Libertarian nominee [[Gary Johnson]] in the general election.<ref>{{cite news |last=Peyser |first=Eve |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/no-david-lynch-didnt-actually-praise-trump/ |title=No, David Lynch Didn't Actually Praise Trump |newspaper=[[Vice News]] |date=June 26, 2018 |access-date=March 5, 2020 |archive-date=April 20, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420184522/https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/43595b/no-david-lynch-didnt-actually-praise-trump |url-status=live }}</ref> In a June 2018 interview with ''[[The Guardian]]'', Lynch said that [[Donald Trump]] could go down as "one of the greatest presidents in history because he has disrupted the [country] so much. No one is able to counter this guy in an intelligent way." He added: "Our so-called leaders can't take the country forward, can't get anything done. Like children, they are. Trump has shown all this."<ref name="Carrol" /> The interviewer clarified that "while Trump may not be doing a good job himself, Lynch thinks, he is opening up a space where other outsiders might."<ref name="Carrol" /> At a rally later that month, Trump read out sections of the interview, claiming Lynch was a supporter.<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 26, 2018|title=Trump jokes David Lynch's career 'is over' as he quotes Guardian interview|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeU8-HqUgYA&feature=youtu.be&t=20|access-date=November 5, 2020|via=YouTube|archive-date=November 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101232245/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeU8-HqUgYA&feature=youtu.be&t=20|url-status=live}}</ref> Lynch later clarified on Facebook that his words were taken out of context, saying that Trump would "not have a chance to go down in history as a great president" if he continued on the course of "causing suffering and division" and advising him to "treat all the people as you would like to be treated".<ref>{{cite web |title=David Lynch |url=https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1800909923291220&id=236978119684416&__tn__=%2As%2As-R |via=Facebook |access-date=June 26, 2018 |archive-date=December 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228024827/https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1800909923291220&id=236978119684416&__tn__=%2As%2As-R |url-status=live }}</ref>

In one of his daily weather report videos in 2020, Lynch expressed support for [[Black Lives Matter]] protests following the [[murder of George Floyd]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2020/06/david-lynch-black-lives-matter-weather-video-1202235254/|title=David Lynch Adds Black Lives Matter Message to Daily Web Series: 'Peace, Justice, No Fear'|date=June 3, 2020|last=Sharf|first=Zack|publisher=IndieWire}}</ref> In a 2022 weather report, he condemned the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] and addressed Russian president [[Vladimir Putin]] directly, telling him there was "no room for this kind of absurdity anymore" and that Putin would reap what he had sown, lifetime after lifetime.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sharf |first=Zack |date=February 25, 2022 |title=David Lynch Condemns Putin: 'All This Death and Destruction Will Come Back to Visit You' |url=https://variety.com/2022/film/news/david-lynch-condemns-putin-russia-ukraine-1235190262/ |access-date=March 16, 2022 |website=Variety}}</ref>

Lynch was present with other Boy Scouts outside the [[White House]] at the [[Inauguration of John F. Kennedy|inauguration of President John F. Kennedy]], which took place on Lynch's 15th birthday.<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|5}} When Kennedy was [[Assassination of John F. Kennedy|assassinated]] in 1963, Lynch was the first in his school to hear of it, as he was working on a display case rather than attending class.{{sfn|Lynch|Rodley|2005|p=6}} 

===Transcendental Meditation===
{{Main|David Lynch Foundation}}
[[File:David Lynch at Town Hall.jpg|thumb|upright|Lynch speaking on [[Transcendental Meditation]] and the creative process in 2007<ref>{{cite web |title=Filmmaker David Lynch explains how to catch big ideas (Lecture) |url=http://www.new.prx.org/pieces/19719#description |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531190241/http://www.new.prx.org/pieces/19719 |archive-date=May 31, 2011 |publisher=KUOW-FM}}</ref>]]
Lynch advocated Transcendental Meditation as a spiritual practice.<ref name="NS 2013">{{cite web |last=Lynch |first=David |date=October 31, 2013 |title=David Lynch on meditation: Heaven is a place on earth |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/10/heaven-place-earth |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031225647/http://www.newstatesman.com/2013/10/heaven-place-earth |archive-date=October 31, 2013 |access-date=November 2, 2013 |work=[[New Statesman]]}}</ref> He was initiated into Transcendental Meditation in July 1973, and practiced the technique consistently thereafter.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lynch |first=David |date=July 3, 2008 |title=The pleasure of life grows |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/03/healthandwellbeing.davidlynch |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307154324/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/jul/03/healthandwellbeing.davidlynch |archive-date=March 7, 2016 |access-date=December 11, 2016 |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London}}</ref><ref name="WP-12-01-2005">{{cite news |last=Booth |first=William |date=December 2, 2005 |title=Yogi Bearer |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/01/AR2005120101798.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110121711/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/01/AR2005120101798.html |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |access-date=August 27, 2022 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> Lynch said he met [[Maharishi Mahesh Yogi]], the founder of the [[Transcendental Meditation movement|TM movement]], for the first time in 1975 at the [[Spiritual Regeneration Movement]] center in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hoffman |first=Claire |date=March 12, 2012 |title=David Lynch's Guru and His Art |url=http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/02/david_lynch_talks_about_the_de.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312155601/http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/undergod/2008/02/david_lynch_talks_about_the_de.html |archive-date=March 12, 2012 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Kress |first=Michael |title=David Lynch's Peace Plan |url=http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Celebrities/David-Lynchs-Peace-Plan.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100724223417/http://www.beliefnet.com/Entertainment/Celebrities/David-Lynchs-Peace-Plan.aspx |archive-date=July 24, 2010 |access-date=November 29, 2010 |website=BeliefNet.com}}</ref> He became close with the Maharishi during a month-long "Millionaire's Enlightenment Course" held in 2003, the fee for which was $1 million.<ref name="Stevens">{{cite news |last1=Stevens |first1=Jacqueline |last2=Barkham |first2=Patrick |date=January 27, 2009 |title=And now children, it's time for your yogic flying lesson |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jan/27/david-lynch-meditation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160812000251/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/jan/27/david-lynch-meditation |archive-date=August 12, 2016 |access-date=December 11, 2016 |work=[[The Guardian]] |location=London}}</ref>

In July 2005, Lynch launched the [[David Lynch Foundation|David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and Peace]],<ref name="Williams" /><ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/message.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250111000427/https://www.davidlynchfoundation.org/message.html |archive-date=January 11, 2025 |work=David Lynch Foundation For Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace}}</ref> established to help finance scholarships for students in middle and high schools who are interested in learning Transcendental Meditation and to fund research on the technique and its effects on learning. Together with [[John Hagelin]] and Fred Travis, a brain researcher from [[Maharishi University of Management]] (MUM), Lynch promoted his vision on college campuses with a tour that began in September 2005.<ref>{{cite web |year=2005 |title=David Lynch – John Hagelin Tour Inspires Thousands of College Students on East and West Coasts |url=http://istpp.org/news/2005_09_lynchtour.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120723222120/http://istpp.org/news/2005_09_lynchtour.html |archive-date=July 23, 2012 |access-date=August 16, 2012 |publisher=Institute of Science, Technology and Public Policy}}</ref> Lynch was on MUM's board of trustees<ref>{{cite press release |title=Filmmaker David Lynch to Give 2016 Commencement Address at Maharishi University of Management |date=April 18, 2016 |url=http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/filmmaker-david-lynch-give-2016-commencement-address-maharishi-university-management-2115565.htm |access-date=January 28, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180128021130/http://www.marketwired.com/press-release/filmmaker-david-lynch-give-2016-commencement-address-maharishi-university-management-2115565.htm |archive-date=January 28, 2018 |work=Marketwire}}</ref> and hosted an annual "David Lynch Weekend for World Peace and Meditation" there, beginning in 2005.<ref name="Reimer">{{cite magazine |last=Reimer |first=Emily |date=October 30, 2009 |title=Fourth Annual David Lynch Weekend for World Peace and Meditation Taking Place in Iowa |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/10/4th-annual-david-lynch-weekend-for-worldpeace-and.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091105113841/http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/10/4th-annual-david-lynch-weekend-for-worldpeace-and.html |archive-date=November 5, 2009 |access-date=November 15, 2009 |magazine=Paste Magazine}}</ref> The foundation has also funded meditation lessons for veterans and other "at-risk" populations.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hackman |first1=Rose |date=November 4, 2015 |title=David Lynch and Katy Perry promote meditation with Carnegie Hall event |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/04/david-lynch-transcendental-meditation-luxury-fad |access-date=January 17, 2025 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

Lynch was working for the building and establishment of seven buildings in which 8,000 salaried people would practice advanced meditation techniques, "pumping peace for the world". He estimated the cost at US$7&nbsp;[[1,000,000,000|billion]]. As of December 2005, he had spent $400,000 of his money and raised $1&nbsp;million in donations.<ref name="WP-12-01-2005" /> In December 2006, ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that he continued to have that goal.<ref name="Williams" /> Lynch's book ''[[Catching the Big Fish]]'' (2006) discusses Transcendental Meditation's effect on his creative process. Lynch attended the Maharishi's funeral in India in 2008.<ref name="Stevens" /> He told a reporter, "In life, he revolutionized the lives of millions of people. ... In 20, 50, 500 years there will be millions of people who will know and understand what the Maharishi has done."<ref>{{cite news |last=Mukherjee |first=Krittivas |date=February 11, 2008 |title=West meets East on guru Mahesh Yogi's funeral pyre |url=http://in.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-31875220080211 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112221917/http://in.reuters.com/article/2008/02/11/idINIndia-31875220080211 |archive-date=January 12, 2012 |access-date=May 7, 2010 |work=Reuters}}</ref> In 2009, Lynch went to India to film interviews with people who knew the Maharishi as part of a biographical documentary.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 18, 2009 |title=David Lynch to shoot film about TM guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in India |url=http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/david-lynch-to-shoot-film-about-tm-guru-maharishi-mahesh-yogi-in-india_100276506.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127062011/http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/entertainment/david-lynch-to-shoot-film-about-tm-guru-maharishi-mahesh-yogi-in-india_100276506.html |archive-date=January 27, 2012 |access-date=May 7, 2010 |work=Thaindian News}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Bychawski |first=Adam |date=November 18, 2009 |title=David Lynch to make film about Beatles guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi |url=http://www.nme.com/news/the-beatles/48442 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160421200330/http://www.nme.com/news/the-beatles/48442 |archive-date=April 21, 2016 |work=[[NME]]}}</ref>

[[File:David Lynch Paris Oct 2007.jpg|thumb|left|140px|Lynch dedicating his book ''Catching the Big Fish'' in Paris on the occasion of his World Tour in 2007.]]

In 2009, Lynch organized a benefit concert at [[Radio City Music Hall]] for the David Lynch Foundation. On April 4, 2009, the "Change Begins Within" concert featured [[Paul McCartney]], [[Ringo Starr]], [[Donovan]], [[Sheryl Crow]], [[Eddie Vedder]], [[Moby]], [[Bettye LaVette]], [[Ben Harper]], and [[Mike Love]].<ref name="NYT-04-04-09">{{cite news |last=Pareles |first=Jon |author-link=Jon Pareles |date=April 4, 2009 |title=Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr Reunite at Radio City |url=http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/paul-mccartney-ringo-starr-reunite-at-radio-city |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090408171838/http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/paul-mccartney-ringo-starr-reunite-at-radio-city/ |archive-date=April 8, 2009 |access-date=August 27, 2022 |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> ''[[David Wants to Fly]]'' is a 2010 documentary by German filmmaker David Sieveking "that follows the path of his professional idol, David Lynch, into the world of Transcendental Meditation (TM)".<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 2010 |title=German Documentaries 2010 |url=http://german-documentaries.de/media/pdf/german-documentaries_10.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719031922/http://german-documentaries.de/media/pdf/german-documentaries_10.pdf |archive-date=July 19, 2011 |access-date=May 7, 2010 |work=german-documentaries.de |page=17 |quote=The young filmmaker David Sieveking follows the path of his professional idol, David Lynch, into the world of Transcendental Meditation (TM).}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Simon |first=Alissa |date=February 14, 2010 |title=Review: 'David Wants to Fly' |url=http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117942181.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&nid=2562 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151229173815/http://variety.com/2010/film/reviews/david-wants-to-fly-1117942181/ |archive-date=December 29, 2015 |access-date=April 1, 2022 |website=Variety |quote='David Wants to Fly' follows German writer-helmer David Sieveking on his road to enlightenment, a journey that involves David Lynch, various headquarters of the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement and the icy source of the Ganges.}}</ref> At the end of the film, Sieveking becomes disillusioned with the TM movement.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 1, 2019 |title=Für Lynch bin ich ein Feind |trans-title='To Lynch I am an enemy' |url=https://www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de/fuer-lynch-bin-ich-ein-feind_aid-561039 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191101133735/https://www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de/fuer-lynch-bin-ich-ein-feind_aid-561039 |archive-date=November 1, 2019 |access-date=July 17, 2022 |language=de}}</ref>

An independent project starring Lynch called ''Beyond The Noise: My Transcendental Meditation Journey'', directed by Dana Farley, who has severe dyslexia and attention deficit disorder, was shown at film festivals in 2011,<ref>{{cite news |date=August 24, 2010 |title=Beyond The Noise |url=http://dlf.tv/2010/beyond-the-noise/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100908003911/http://dlf.tv/2010/beyond-the-noise/ |archive-date=September 8, 2010 |access-date=August 24, 2010 |work=David Lynch Foundation}}</ref> including the Marbella Film Festival.<ref>{{cite web |year=2011 |title=List of 2011 documentaries |url=http://www.marbellafilmfestival.com/archives/awards-2011/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318123254/http://www.marbellafilmfestival.com/archives/awards-2011/ |archive-date=March 18, 2012 |publisher=Marbella Film Festival}}</ref> Filmmaker [[Kevin Sean Michaels]] is one of the producers.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1705102/ |title=Beyond the Noise: My Transcendental Meditation Journey |publisher=[[IMDb]] }}</ref> In 2013, Lynch wrote: "Transcendental Meditation leads to a beautiful, peaceful revolution. A change from suffering and negativity to happiness and a life more and more free of any problems."<ref name="NS 2013" />

In a 2019 interview by British artist [[Alexander de Cadenet]], Lynch said: "Here's an experience that utilizes the full brain. That's what it's for. It's for enlightenment, for higher states of consciousness, culminating in the highest state of unity consciousness."<ref>{{cite web |date=February 5, 2020 |title=Post |url=https://www.awakenedartists.com/post/2019/09/19/david-lynch-on-transcendental-meditation |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200220130659/https://www.awakenedartists.com/post/2019/09/19/david-lynch-on-transcendental-meditation |archive-date=February 20, 2020 |access-date=February 20, 2020 |website=awakenedartists |language=en}}</ref> In April 2022, Lynch announced a $500 million transcendental meditation world peace initiative to fund transcendental meditation for 30,000 college students.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bergeson |first=Samantha |date=April 15, 2022 |title=David Lynch Launches $500 Million Transcendental Meditation World Peace Initiative |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2022/04/david-lynch-transcendental-meditation-world-peace-initiative-1234716956/ |access-date=April 15, 2022 |website=IndieWire |language=en}}</ref> In September 2024, Lynch made his last published broadcast speech at Meditate America 2024. He discussed the Beatles' (particularly [[John Lennon]]'s) practice of TM during [[The Beatles in India|their visit to India in 1968]] and played a cover of "[[Across the Universe]]".

==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>

==Artistry==
===Style===
{{quote box
| width = 25%
| align = right
| quote = "An academic definition of Lynchian might be that the term 'refers to a particular kind of irony where the very macabre and the very mundane combine in such a way as to reveal the former's perpetual containment within the latter'".
| source = —Writer [[David Foster Wallace]] in a 1997 article on David Lynch for ''[[Premiere (magazine)|Premiere]]''<ref name="DFW">{{cite news |last=Wallace |first=David Foster |author-link=David Foster Wallace |date=September 1997 |title=David Lynch Keeps His Head |url=http://www.lynchnet.com/lh/lhpremiere.html |work=[[Premiere (magazine)|Premiere]]}}</ref>
}}
Lynch's distinctive style blends [[surrealism]] with classic [[Hollywood film|Hollywood]] storytelling and "pulpy" romanticism,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Sims |first1=David |title=David Lynch Was America's Cinematic Poet |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2025/01/david-lynch-death-career/681347/ |website=The Atlantic |date=January 17, 2025 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref> often employing [[experimental film]]making techniques alongside elements from commercial genres such as [[film noir]], [[Supernatural horror film|supernatural horror]], [[soap opera]], [[Camp (style)#Film|camp comedy]], and [[erotic thriller]].<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> His films have been said to evoke a "dreamlike quality of mystery or menace" through striking visual imagery, and frequently combine "surreal or sinister elements with mundane, everyday environments".<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.oed.com/dictionary/lynchian_adj?tl=true#:~:text=Characteristic%2C%20reminiscent%2C%20or%20imitative%20of%20the%20films%20or%20television%20work,quality%20of%20mystery%20or%20menace. |title=Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref> Critic [[Peter Bradshaw]] of ''[[The Guardian]]'' called Lynch "the great American surrealist" and described his subversive narratives as "splitting and swirling in [[Non sequitur (literary device)|non sequitur]]s and [[M. C. Escher|Escher]] loops".<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> Film analyst Jennifer Hudson wrote, "Like most surrealists, Lynch's language of the unexplained is the fluid language of dreams".<ref name="hudson">{{cite journal |last=Hudson |first=Jennifer |date=Spring 2004 |title='No Hay Banda, and yet We Hear a Band': David Lynch's Reversal of Coherence in ''Mulholland Drive'' |journal=[[Journal of Film and Video]] |issue=56 |volume=1 |pages=17–24}}</ref> Ryan Gilbey called Lynch "the greatest cinematic surrealist since [[Luis Buñuel|[Luis] Buñuel]]" and "the most original film-maker to emerge in postwar America".<ref name=gilbey>{{cite web |last1=Gilbey |first1=Ryan |title=David Lynch obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2025/jan/17/david-lynch-obituary |website=The Guardian |date=January 17, 2025 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref>

[[J. Hoberman]] wrote that Lynch's work is characterized by "troubling juxtapositions, outlandish non sequiturs and eroticized derangement of the commonplace".<ref name="Hoberman" /> Hoberman called his approach "more intuitive" than that of his surrealist precursors, and suggested that his art synthesized the disparate styles of Hollywood filmmaker [[Frank Capra]] and modernist author [[Franz Kafka]].<ref name="Hoberman" /> Dennis Lim suggested that Lynch's films "push clichés to their breaking point and find emotion in artifice."<ref>Lim, Dennis (2015). ''David Lynch: The Man From Another Place.''</ref> B. Kite of the [[British Film Institute|BFI]] called Lynch's approach "stylised but not mocking", arguing that Lynch was "singularly brave and direct in his approach to heightened emotion" in an era where most filmmakers would opt for ironic distance.<ref name="kite"/> Nick De Semlyen of ''[[Empire Magazine|Empire]]'' described his films as moving "back and forth between violent chaos and otherworldly beauty", and suggested that "while other filmmakers tried to wrestle order out of chaos, compacting their stories into neat three-act structures, Lynch revelled in the tumult—that feeling that life is a beautiful, terrifying mystery."<ref>{{cite web |last1=De Semiyen |first1=Nick |title=David Lynch Conjured Cinematic Dreams – And We All Got To Live In Them |url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/david-lynch-tribute-cinematic-dreams-we-got-to-live-in/ |website=Empire |date=January 17, 2025 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref>

Lynch's work inspired the use of the adjective "Lynchian" to describe art or situations reminiscent of his style.<ref name="Hoberman" /> Phil Hoad of ''[[The Guardian]]'' called the term Lynchian a "go-to adjective to describe any sniff of the [[uncanny]] and esoteric on screen", adding that his "destabilising vision has become a common lens for discerning the truth about the 'normal world'".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hoad |first1=Phil |title=Deviant obsessions: how David Lynch predicted our fragmented times |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jan/09/david-lynch-twin-peaks-director-predicted-our-times |website=The Guardian |date=January 9, 2023 |access-date=23 March 2025}}</ref>

===Themes and motifs===
Lynch refused to publicly explain or assign any specific meaning to his works, preferring that viewers interpret them in their own ways.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=David Lynch's Unsolvable Puzzles |url=https://www.newyorker.com/podcast/critics-at-large/david-lynchs-unsolvable-puzzles |magazine=The New Yorker |date=February 6, 2025 |access-date=7 March 2025}}</ref> Asked how audiences should approach his films, he said: "You should not be afraid of using your intuition and feel your way through. Have the experience and trust your inner knowing of what it is."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kemp |first1=Sam |title=David Lynch tells you how to experience his movies |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-lynch-how-to-experience-his-movies/ |website=Far Out |date=September 23, 2021 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref>
{{quote box
| width = 25%
| align = left
| quote = I look at the world and I see absurdity all around me. People do strange things constantly, to the point that, for the most part, we manage not to see it. That's why I love coffee shops and public places—I mean, they're all out there.
| source = —David Lynch<ref name=lynch05/>{{rp|199}}
}}

Many elements recur in Lynch's work; Le Blanc and Odell write, "his films are so packed with motifs, recurrent characters, images, compositions and techniques that you could view his entire output as one large jigsaw puzzle of ideas".<ref name="leblancodell" />{{rp|8}} Works like ''Blue Velvet'' and ''Twin Peaks'' depict stories in which "the folksiness of small town America collided with utter depravity, beset by evils from both sides of the white picket fence", while his later "Hollywood trilogy"—''Lost Highway'', ''Mulholland Drive'', and ''Inland Empire''—explores "the celluloid dreams of Los Angeles [against the] bitter realities and almost cosmic horrors lurking in the hills".<ref name=angelus/> Elements like red theater curtains, diners, dreams, nightclub singers, and [[occultism|occult-like ritual]]s recur frequently in Lynch's work.<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> Another prominent motif is [[factory|industry]], with repeated imagery of "the clunk of machinery, the power of pistons, shadows of oil drills pumping, screaming woodmills and smoke billowing factories".<ref name="leblancodell" />{{rp|9–11}} Other imagery common in Lynch's work includes flickering electricity or lights, fire, and stages.<ref name="leblancodell" />{{rp|9–11}} Physical deformity is also found in several of Lynch's films, as is death by head wound. His work frequently depicts a dark, violent criminal underbelly of society, and often contains characters with supernatural or omnipotent qualities.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Guan |first=Frank |date=September 12, 2017 |title=What Does David Lynch Have to Say About Race? |url=https://www.vulture.com/2017/09/david-lynch-racial-politics.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115152428/http://www.vulture.com/2017/09/david-lynch-racial-politics.html |archive-date=November 15, 2017 |access-date=November 15, 2017 |work=[[Vulture.com|Vulture]] |language=en}}</ref>

In ''[[The New Yorker]]'', Dennis Lim concluded that "the primal terror of Lynch’s films is an existential one" and that "the volatility of the self and of reality" is central to his work.<ref name=Lim-2018>{{cite magazine |last1=Lim |first1=Dennis |title=Donald Trump's America and the Visions of David Lynch |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/donald-trumps-america-and-the-visions-of-david-lynch |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=11 March 2025 |date=June 29, 2018}}</ref> Lim wrote that "for Lynch, disruption is generative: [[psychological trauma |trauma]], the recurring subject of his films, can rupture the fabric of reality".<ref name=Lim-2018/> Critic [[Mark Fisher]] noted that Lynch's works destabilize the hierarchy between distinct levels of reality and fiction: "figments from dreams cross over into waking life; [[screen test]]s appear at least as convincing as the exchanges in the supposedly real-world scenes that surround them", resulting in a ambiguous [[ontology|ontological]] situation in which "any apparent reality subsides into a dream".<ref name="fisher">{{cite web |last1=Fisher |first1=Mark |title=Curtains and Holes: David Lynch |url=https://onscenes.weebly.com/film-433002/curtains-and-holes-david-lynch |website=Onscenes |access-date=9 April 2025}}</ref> Kite wrote that "the central mystery" of Lynch's work is rooted in overlapping "worlds" of consciousness and the resultant "perpetual folding between outside and inside".<ref name="kite"/> Gilbey wrote that Lynch's work "exposed the horrors lurking beneath apparently placid exteriors, and found beauty in the quotidian, the industrial" while reflecting a "mix of folksy naivety and elusive strangeness".<ref name=gilbey/> Critic Greg Olson wrote that Lynch's work is preoccupied with the "deepest realities" behind surfaces and facades.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Olson |first1=Greg |title=David Lynch: Beautiful Dark |date=2008 |publisher=Scarecrow Press}}</ref> Author [[David Foster Wallace]] characterized Lynch's films as deconstructing "the weird irony of the banal".<ref name="DFW"/> Lynch's work reflects a preoccupation with the instability of identity, particularly in female characters.<ref name=farout/> He tended to feature his female leads in "split" roles: many of his female characters have multiple, fractured identities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Lynch watching Vertigo |url=http://cinearchive.org/post/116927300550/david-lynch-watching-vertigo-the-most-studied |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014035038/http://cinearchive.org/post/116927300550/david-lynch-watching-vertigo-the-most-studied |archive-date=October 14, 2017 |access-date=October 13, 2017 |website=cinearchive.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Cwik |first=Greg |date=April 16, 2015 |title=9 Great Films Influenced By Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2015/04/9-great-films-influenced-by-alfred-hitchcocks-vertigo-62999/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215231041/https://www.indiewire.com/2015/04/9-great-films-influenced-by-alfred-hitchcocks-vertigo-62999/ |archive-date=December 15, 2019 |access-date=March 12, 2020 |website=IndieWire}}</ref> Hoberman identified a duality between "exaggerated, even saccharine innocence" and "depraved evil" in his work,<ref name="Hoberman" /> while Lim emphasized that the good and evil in Lynch's art exist in an ambiguous relationship to each other.<ref name=Lim-2018/>

Lynch's affinity for [[Eastern spirituality]] is evident in his films, though it typically manifests in American trappings.<ref>{{cite book |last1=King |first1=Rob E. |title=David Lynch and the American West Essays on Regionalism and Indigeneity in Twin Peaks and the Films |date=2023 |publisher=MacFarland |page=2}}</ref> Joseph Joyce of ''Angelus'' wrote, "his work could perhaps properly be understood as the marriage between Western kitsch and Eastern spirituality".<ref name=angelus/> According to Kite, much of Lynch's work is underpinned by his [[Advaita Vedanta]]-inspired philosophy, in which the soul is defined by "light and unity" but forgets its original essence, becoming lost in illusions of isolation, violence, and separateness for some time before awaking to remember its true nature.<ref name="kite">{{cite web |last1=Kite |first1=B. |title=Remain in light: Mulholland Dr. and the cosmogony of David Lynch |url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/remain-light-mulholland-dr-cosmogony-david-lynch |website=[[British Film Institute|BFI]] |date=November 13, 2019 |access-date=12 March 2025}}</ref> Kite suggested that Lynch could be understood as "a religious or spiritual artist in a loosely categoric sense", and called his worldview "essentially [[monism|monist]]" but punctuated by superficial [[cosmological dualism|duality]] and [[Gnostic]] conflict.<ref name="kite"/> Lynch directly invoked the [[Vedic scripture]]s known as [[the Upanishads]] in several of his films and books; in ''Twin Peaks: The Return'' and in his live introductions to ''Inland Empire'', he quotes a passage from an adapted version of the [[Brihadaranyaka Upanishad]]:<ref>{{cite web |last1=Cult |first1=Matt |title=Eternal Stories from the Upanishads In The Return |url=https://filmobsessive.com/film/film-analysis/filmmakers/david-lynch/eternal-stories-from-the-upanishads-in-the-return/ |website=25YL |date=August 15, 2017 |accessdate=19 March 2025}}</ref>
<blockquote>We are like the spider. We weave our life and then move along in it. We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream. This is true for the entire universe.<ref>{{cite news |last=Guillen |first=Michael |date=24 January 2007 |title=Inland Empire—The San Rafael Film Center Q&A With David Lynch |work=Twitch Film |url=http://twitchfilm.net/archives/008819.html |url-status=dead |access-date=21 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080907005745/http://www.twitchfilm.net/archives/008819.html |archive-date=7 September 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Egenes |first1=Thomas |last2=Reddy |first2=Kumuda |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BcDlPTSbEoEC&pg=PA71 |title=Eternal Stories from the Upanishads |location=New Delhi |publisher=Smrti Books |year=2002 |page=71 |isbn=978-8-18-796707-1}}</ref></blockquote> 

All but two of Lynch's films are set in the United States, and he frequently referenced 1950s and early 1960s U.S. culture despite his works being set in later decades. Bradshaw wrote, "[n]o director ever interpreted the [[American dream|American Dream]] with more artless innocence than David Lynch", citing his work's juxtaposition of the safety of "the suburban drive and the picket fence" with "escape, danger, adventure, sex and death".<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> Joyce wrote, "it's easy to presume that Lynch was cynic. But [...] he really did love [[Americana (culture)|Americana]]; blue jeans and slicked hair, [[soda fountain]]s, [[Roy Orbison]] and, yes, milkshakes".<ref name=angelus>{{cite web |last1=Joyce |first1=Joseph |title=What made late filmmaker David Lynch a true believer |url=https://angelusnews.com/arts-culture/david-lynch-surrealist/ |website=Angelus |date=January 27, 2025 |access-date=1 April 2025}}</ref> Lynch said: "I like certain things about America and it gives me ideas. When I go around and I see things, it sparks little stories".<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|18}} Of the 1950s, he said, "It was a fantastic decade in a lot of ways&nbsp;... there was something in the air that is not there any more at all. It was such a great feeling, and not just because I was a kid. It was a really hopeful time, and things were going up instead of going down. You got the feeling you could do anything. The future was bright. Little did we know we were laying the groundwork for a disastrous future."<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|3–5}}

===Influences===
[[File:Newyork-movie-edward-hopper-1939.jpg|thumb|right|''[[New York Movie]]'' (1939) by [[Edward Hopper]], one of Lynch's favorite painters.]]
Lynch felt his work was more similar to that of European filmmakers than American ones, and said that most films that "get down and thrill your soul" are by European directors.<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|62}} He expressed admiration for [[Federico Fellini]],<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|62}} [[Ingmar Bergman]], [[Werner Herzog]], [[Alfred Hitchcock]],<ref>{{cite interview |last=Lynch |first=David |interviewer=Diego Schonhals |title=David Lynch Favorites Movies and FilmMakers |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1s7EwOeowU |access-date=September 28, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018130352/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1s7EwOeowU |archive-date=October 18, 2017 |url-status=live |publication-date=October 13, 2007}}</ref> [[Roman Polanski]], [[Jacques Tati]],<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|62}} [[Stanley Kubrick]], and [[Billy Wilder]]. His favorite film, and one he regularly returned to, was [[Victor Fleming]]'s ''[[The Wizard of Oz]]''.<ref>{{cite news| last=Richardson| first=Amy| title=Long live the wizard, David Lynch| date=January 17, 2025| work=[[Los Angeles Times]]| url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2025-01-17/appreciation-david-lynch-long-live-the-wizard}}</ref> He said that Wilder's ''[[Sunset Boulevard (film)|Sunset Boulevard]]'' (1950) was one of his favorite pictures,<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|71}} as were "probably all of Bergman’s movies",<ref>{{cite web |last1=Russell |first1=Callum |title=The movies that David Lynch "oriented" himself on |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/movies-david-lynch-oriented-himself-on/ |website=Artforum |date=July 15, 2022 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref> Kubrick's ''[[Lolita (1962 film)|Lolita]]'' (1962), Fellini's ''[[8½]]'' (1963), Tati's ''[[Monsieur Hulot's Holiday]]'' (1953), Hitchcock's ''[[Rear Window]]'' (1954), and Herzog's ''[[Stroszek]]'' (1977).<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|21}} He also cited [[Herk Harvey]]'s ''[[Carnival of Souls]]'' (1962) and [[Jerzy Skolimowski]]'s ''[[Deep End (film)|Deep End]]'' (1970) as influences on his work.<ref>{{cite web |date=October 12, 2007 |title=Retro Cinema: Carnival of Souls |url=https://www.moviefone.com/2007/10/12/retro-cinema-carnival-of-souls/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218064656/https://www.moviefone.com/2007/10/12/retro-cinema-carnival-of-souls/ |archive-date=February 18, 2017 |access-date=February 17, 2017 |website=Moviefone}}</ref> [[Maya Deren]]'s 1943 experimental film ''[[Meshes of the Afternoon]]'' has also been recognized as a possible influence on Lynch.<ref name=farout>{{cite web |last1=Ferrier |first1=Aimee |title=Did avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren inspire David Lynch's movies? |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/maya-deren-inspired-david-lynch/ |website=Far Out |date=January 20, 2023 |access-date=7 March 2025}}</ref> Some have suggested that Lynch's love of Hitchcock's ''[[Vertigo (film)|Vertigo]]'' influenced his use of dual-identity female roles.<ref>{{Cite web |title=David Lynch watching Vertigo |url=http://cinearchive.org/post/116927300550/david-lynch-watching-vertigo-the-most-studied |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014035038/http://cinearchive.org/post/116927300550/david-lynch-watching-vertigo-the-most-studied |archive-date=October 14, 2017 |access-date=October 13, 2017 |website=cinearchive.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Cwik |first=Greg |date=April 16, 2015 |title=9 Great Films Influenced By Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2015/04/9-great-films-influenced-by-alfred-hitchcocks-vertigo-62999/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191215231041/https://www.indiewire.com/2015/04/9-great-films-influenced-by-alfred-hitchcocks-vertigo-62999/ |archive-date=December 15, 2019 |access-date=March 12, 2020 |website=IndieWire}}</ref>

[[Edward Hopper]] and [[Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon]] were two of Lynch's favorite painters.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Abrams |first1=Bryan |title=Mr. Sunshine: David Lynch, Auteur of the Uncanny, Talks Inspiration |url=https://www.motionpictures.org/2014/05/mr-sunshine-david-lynch-auteur-of-the-uncanny-talks-inspiration/ |website=The Credits |date=May 8, 2014 |access-date=11 March 2025}}</ref> Lynch also praised installation artist [[Edward Kienholz]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wise |first=Damon |date=2018-08-20 |title=Encore: David Lynch Refuses To Explain 'Twin Peaks: The Return' — "Ideas Came, And This Is What They Presented" |url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/twin-peaks-the-return-david-lynch-interview-showtime-emmys-news-1202407985/ |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref> Lynch said his favorite books were [[Frank Capra]]'s ''The Name Above the Title'', [[Fyodor Dostoyevsky]]'s ''[[Crime and Punishment]]'', [[Robert Henri]]'s ''The Art Spirit'', [[Robert Flynn Johnson]]'s ''Anonymous Photographs'', and [[Franz Kafka]]'s ''[[The Metamorphosis]]''.<ref>{{cite news| title=David Lynch named his five favorite books of all time| last=Thomas| first=Lee| work=Far Out| date=October 12, 2022| url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-lynch-favourite-books-ever/}}</ref>

===Recurring collaborators===
{{Main|List of frequent David Lynch collaborators}}

Lynch was noted for his collaborations with various production artists and composers on his films and other productions.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 17, 2016 |title=My Beautiful Broken Brain: The woman who 'video-selfied' her stroke |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/my-beautiful-broken-brain-the-amazing-collaboration-of-david-lynch-and-a-woman-who-video-selfied-her-a6937571.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327151704/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/my-beautiful-broken-brain-the-amazing-collaboration-of-david-lynch-and-a-woman-who-video-selfied-her-a6937571.html |archive-date=March 27, 2018 |access-date=March 26, 2018 |work=The Independent |language=en-GB}}</ref> He frequently worked with composer Angelo Badalamenti, film editor [[Mary Sweeney]], casting director [[Johanna Ray]], and actors [[Harry Dean Stanton]], Jack Nance, Kyle MacLachlan, Catherine Coulson, Laura Dern, Naomi Watts, Isabella Rossellini, and [[Grace Zabriskie]].

===Legacy===
{{Main|Cultural impact of David Lynch}}
Lynch was often called a "visionary".<ref name="Hoberman" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 16, 2025 |title=David Lynch, visionary filmmaker behind 'Twin Peaks' and 'Mulholland Drive,' dies at 78 |url=https://apnews.com/article/david-lynch-dies-9107f3ce0b4dd49dbe3dc2ae3c09ed59 |access-date=January 16, 2025 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Galloway |first=Stephen |date=January 16, 2025 |title=David Lynch, Auteur Drawn to the Dark and the Dreamlike, Dies at 78 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/david-lynch-blue-velvet-mulholland-drive-1236110711/ |access-date=January 17, 2025 |website=The Hollywood Reporter |language=en-US}}</ref> 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 film-maker of the current era",<ref name="40 best directors">{{cite news |year=2007 |title=40 best directors |url=http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/page/0,11456,1082823,00.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704012453/http://film.guardian.co.uk/features/page/0,11456,1082823,00.html |archive-date=July 4, 2007 |access-date=November 29, 2010 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref> and [[AllMovie]] called him "the Renaissance man of modern American filmmaking".<ref>{{cite web |last=Ankeny |first=Jason |title=David Lynch: Biography |url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/david-lynch-100454 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201228024833/https://www.allmovie.com/artist/david-lynch-p100454 |archive-date=December 28, 2020 |access-date=November 29, 2010 |publisher=AllMovie}}</ref> Film critic [[Pauline Kael]] called Lynch "the first populist surrealist".<ref name="lynch05" />{{rp|xi}}

==Filmography==
{{main|David Lynch filmography}}

===Film=== 
{| class="wikitable"
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Distributor 
! scope="col" | {{Refh}}
|-
| 1977
| ''[[Eraserhead]]''
| [[Ben Barenholtz|Libra Films]]
|rowspan=10|<ref name="allrovi">{{cite web |last=Ankeny |first=Jason |title=David Lynch movies, photos, movie reviews, filmography, and biography |url=https://www.allmovie.com/artist/david-lynch-p100454/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627101313/http://www.allmovie.com/artist/david-lynch-p100454/ |archive-date=June 27, 2012 |access-date=August 13, 2012 |publisher=[[AllMovie]]}}</ref>
|-
| 1980
| ''[[The Elephant Man (1980 film)|The Elephant Man]]''
| [[Paramount Pictures]]
|-
| 1984
| ''[[Dune (1984 film)|Dune]]''
| [[Universal Pictures]]
|-
| 1986
| ''[[Blue Velvet (film)|Blue Velvet]]''
| [[De Laurentiis Entertainment Group]]
|-
| 1990
| ''[[Wild at Heart (film)|Wild at Heart]]''
| [[The Samuel Goldwyn Company]]
|-
| 1992
| ''[[Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me]]''
| [[New Line Cinema]]
|-
| 1997
| ''[[Lost Highway (film)|Lost Highway]]''
| [[October Films]]
|-
| 1999
| ''[[The Straight Story]]''
| [[Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures|Buena Vista Pictures]] (under the [[Walt Disney Pictures]] banner)<ref name="AFI">{{cite web |title=The Straight Story (1999) |url=https://catalog.afi.com/Film/61718-THE-STRAIGHTSTORY?sid=b9d2126e-1539-4e1c-ba73-6a0c6e1c1296&sr=7.913997&cp=1&pos=0 |access-date=February 9, 2022 |website=[[AFI Catalog of Feature Films]]}}</ref>
|-
| 2001
| ''[[Mulholland Drive (film)|Mulholland Drive]]''
| Universal Pictures
|-
| 2006
| ''[[Inland Empire (film)|Inland Empire]]''
| Absurda, 518 Media<ref>{{cite web |last=Goldstein |first=Gregg |date=November 16, 2006 |title=Lynch set to self-release 'Empire' |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/lynch-set-release-empire-143369/ |access-date=December 23, 2021 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>
|}

=== Web series ===
=== Television === 
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Network
! scope="col" | Notes
! scope="col" | {{Refh}}
|-
| 1990–1991 
| ''[[Twin Peaks]]''
| rowspan=2| [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]
| 30 episodes 
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name="allrovi" />
|-
| 1992 
| ''[[On the Air (TV series)|On the Air]]''
| Episode: "The Lester Guy Show" 
|rowspan=2 style="text-align:center;" | <ref name="barney" />{{rp|xxvi}}
|-
| 1993
| ''[[Hotel Room]]''
| [[HBO]]
| 2 episodes 
|-
| 2017
| ''[[Twin Peaks season 3|Twin Peaks]]''
| [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]]
| 18 episodes 
| style="text-align:center;" | <ref name="allrovi" />
|}

== Awards and nominations ==
{{Main|List of accolades received by David Lynch}}
Lynch received multiple awards and nominations, including three [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] nominations for [[Academy Award for Best Director|Best Director]] and one for [[Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay|Best Adapted Screenplay]]. He twice won France's [[César Award for Best Foreign Film]], as well as the [[Palme d'Or]] at the [[Cannes Film Festival]] and a [[Golden Lion]] award for lifetime achievement at the [[Venice Film Festival]]. In 2017, [[The MacDowell Colony]] awarded Lynch [[Edward MacDowell Medal|The Edward MacDowell Medal]] for outstanding contributions to American culture.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pierce |first=Meghan |date=August 14, 2017 |title=Filmmaker David Lynch awarded MacDowell Medal |url=https://www.unionleader.com/nh/arts_and_ent/filmmaker-david-lynch-awarded-macdowell-medal/article_22e68b3a-aed9-5f0f-a1c7-fedeafbb83a0.html |access-date=January 16, 2025 |website=UnionLeader.com}}</ref>

==Discography==
{{Main|David Lynch discography}}
;Studio albums
* ''[[Crazy Clown Time]]'' (2011)
* ''[[The Big Dream]]'' (2013)

;Collaborative albums
* ''Lux Vivens'' (with Jocelyn Montgomery) (1998)
* ''[[BlueBOB]]'' (with John Neff) (2001)
* ''The Air Is On Fire'' (with [[Dean Hurley]]) (2007)
* ''[[Polish Night Music]]'' (with Marek Zebrowski) (2007)
* ''This Train'' (with [[Chrystabell]]) (2011)
* ''Somewhere in the Nowhere'' (with Chrystabell) (2016)
* ''[[Thought Gang]]'' (with [[Angelo Badalamenti]]) (recorded 1992/93) (2018)
* ''[[Cellophane Memories]]'' (with Chrystabell) (2024)<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 5, 2024 |title=David Lynch, Chrystabell Conjure 'Cellophane Memories' |url=https://www.spin.com/2024/06/david-lynch-chrystabell-new-album/ |access-date=January 16, 2025 |website=Spin}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Saperstein |first=Pat |date=June 5, 2024 |title=David Lynch's New Project Is an Album and Music Video With Chrystabell From 'Twin Peaks: The Return' |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/news/david-lynch-new-album-chrystabell-1236017914/}}</ref>

== Solo exhibitions ==
{{columns-list|* 1967: Vanderlip Gallery, Philadelphia<ref name="artnet">{{cite web |url=http://www.artnet.com/artists/david-lynch/biography |title=David Lynch Biography |website=[[Artnet]] |access-date=March 13, 2016 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313234539/http://www.artnet.com/artists/david-lynch/biography |archive-date=March 13, 2016}}</ref>
* 1983: Puerto Vallarta, Mexico<ref name="artnet" />
* 1987: James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles<ref name="artnet" />
* 1989: [[Leo Castelli]] Gallery, New York<ref name="artnet" />
* 1990: Tavelli Gallery, Aspen<ref name="artnet" />
* 1991: [[Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo]]<ref name="artnet" />
* 1992: Sala Parpallo, Valencia<ref name="artnet" />
* 1993: James Corcoran Gallery, Los Angeles<ref name="artnet" />
* 1995: Painting Pavilion, Open Air Museum, Hakone<ref name="artnet" />
* 1996: Park Tower Hall, Tokyo<ref name="artnet" />
* 1997: Galerie Piltzer, Paris<ref name="artnet" />
* 2007: [[Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain]], Paris<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fondationcartier.com/en/exhibitions/david-lynch-the-air-is-on-fire |title=David Lynch, The Air is on Fire |website=[[Fondation Cartier pour l'Art Contemporain]] |access-date=October 10, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010051613/https://www.fondationcartier.com/en/exhibitions/david-lynch-the-air-is-on-fire |archive-date=October 10, 2018}}</ref>
* 2008: Epson Kunstbetrieb, Düsseldorf<ref name="artnet" />
* 2009: Max-Ernst-Museum, Brühl<ref name="artnet" />
* 2010: Mönchehaus Museum, Goslar<ref name="artnet" />
* 2010: GL Strand, Copenhagen<ref>{{cite web|title=Review: David Lynch Art Exhibit in Copenhagen|url=http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/01/review-david-lynch-art-exhibit-in-copenhagen-tanya-lee-markul/|website=Elephantjournal.com|date=January 13, 2011|access-date=December 1, 2014|archive-date=December 4, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204103501/http://www.elephantjournal.com/2011/01/review-david-lynch-art-exhibit-in-copenhagen-tanya-lee-markul/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* 2012: Galerie Chelsea, Sylt<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shz.de/lokales/sylt/artikel/galerie-chelsea-zeigt-drucke-von-david-lynch-40813761|title=Galerie Chelsea zeigt Drucke von David Lynch |date=May 26, 2012|publisher=[[Schleswig-Holsteinischer Zeitungsverlag|SHZ]]}}</ref>
* 2012: Galerie Pfefferle, Munich<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.fresko-magazin.de/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Fresko_3-2012-low.pdf |title=Münchener Kunstherbst: Highlights in 2-D |magazine=Fresko |date=March 2012 |page=3}}</ref>
* 2013: Galerie Barbara von Stechow, Frankfurt<ref>{{Cite press release|url=https://press.epson.eu/de_DE/newsroom/david-lynch-foto-ausstellung-in-frankfurt/|title=David Lynch Foto-Ausstellung in Frankfurt|publisher=[[Epson]]|date=November 9, 2013|access-date=January 17, 2025|language=de}}</ref>
* 2014: [[The Photographers' Gallery]], London<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2014/3/25/5546110/david-lynch-the-factory-photographs-exhibit|title=David Lynch is fascinated by abandoned factories|first=Valentina|last=Palladino|date=March 25, 2014|website=The Verge}}</ref>
* 2014: [[Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/dec/12/david-lynch-middlesbrough-painting-exhibition-twin-peaks|title=Damn fine coffee and an individual slice of visual art – two sides of David Lynch|first1=Mark|last1=Brown|date=December 12, 2014|work=The Guardian|access-date=January 16, 2025}}</ref>
* 2014/15: [[Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts]], Philadelphia<ref>{{Cite web |last=Crimmins |first=Peter |date=September 14, 2014 |title=PAFA celebrates alum David Lynch with 'Unified Field' |url=https://whyy.org/articles/pafa-celebrates-alum-david-lynch-with-unified-field/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517205327/https://whyy.org/articles/pafa-celebrates-alum-david-lynch-with-unified-field/ |archive-date=May 17, 2018 |access-date=January 17, 2025 |website=WHYY.org |language=en-US}}</ref>
* 2015: [[Queensland Gallery of Modern Art]], Brisbane<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/between-two-worlds-we-saw-david-lynch-in-brisbane/|title=Between Two Worlds: We Saw David Lynch in Brisbane|work=Vice|first=Lee|last=Zachariah|date=March 16, 2015|access-date=January 16, 2025}}</ref>
* 2017: Centre of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu, [[Toruń]], Poland<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/david-lynch-art-exhibition-camerimage-festival-1201878659/|title=The Ultimate David Lynch Art Exhibition Opens in November, Featuring 400 Original Works|work=Indiewire|first=Zack|last=Sharf|date=September 21, 2017|access-date=January 16, 2025}}</ref>
* 2018: Kayne Griffin Corcoran, Los Angeles<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/museums/la-et-cm-david-lynch-corcoran-review-20181026-htmlstory.html|title=Review: David Lynch's paintings reveal insecurities of adolescence and maligned misfits|first=David|last=Pagel|date=October 26, 2018|website=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>
* 2018/19: [[Bonnefantenmuseum]], Maastricht, The Netherlands<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/14/arts/david-lynch-art-drawings-retrospective-netherlands-.html|title=David Lynch's Art Peers Behind the Facade|first=Nina|last=Siegal|date=March 14, 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=January 16, 2025}}</ref>
* 2019: [[HOME (Manchester)|Home]], Manchester, United Kingdom<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.anothermanmag.com/life-culture/10737/a-major-david-lynch-exhibition-is-coming-to-the-uk |title=A Major David Lynch Exhibition Is Coming to the UK |website=[[Another Man]] |date=March 11, 2019 |access-date=March 12, 2020 |archive-date=July 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729034821/https://www.anothermanmag.com/life-culture/10737/a-major-david-lynch-exhibition-is-coming-to-the-uk |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2019: Sperone Westwater Gallery, New York<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.speronewestwater.com/exhibitions/david-lynch/installations#press-release |title=Installations – David Lynch – Squeaky Flies in the Mud – 1 November – 21 December 2019 – Exhibitions |publisher=Sperone Westwater Gallery |access-date=March 12, 2020 |archive-date=February 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212071459/https://www.speronewestwater.com/exhibitions/david-lynch/installations#press-release |url-status=live }}</ref>
* 2021/22: [[Kunsthallen Nikolaj|Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center]], Copenhagen<ref>{{cite web |url=https://cphpost.dk/?p=126334 |title=David Lynch to display photos at Nikolaj Kunsthal in September 
|last=Grandetoft |first=Kasper |date=July 12, 2021 |website=The Copenhagen Post |access-date=August 8, 2021}}</ref>|colwidth=30em}}

==Notes==
<references group="lower-alpha" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{See also|David Lynch bibliography}}
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Lynch |first1=David |url={{Google Books URL|WJAlDwAAQBAJ}} |title=Room to Dream |last2=McKenna |first2=Kristine |date=2018 |publisher=[[Random House]] |isbn=978-0-399-58919-5 |location=New York |author-mask1=2}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20190206201316/http://lynchconference.hbk-bs.de/ ''David Lynch: The Art of the Real''], the website of a 2012 Berlin conference on the artistic work of David Lynch with all lectures in text form.
* {{Cite book |last1=Cozzolino |first1=Robert |url={{Google Books URL|6NgkDQAAQBAJ}} |title=David Lynch: The Unified Field |last2=Rockwell |first2=Alethea |date=2014 |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |isbn=978-0-520-28396-1 |location=Oakland}}
* {{Cite book |last=Nochimson |first=Martha |url={{Google Books URL|2rNQAePxT8QC}} |title=The Passion of David Lynch: Wild at Heart in Hollywood |date=1997 |publisher=[[University of Texas Press]] |isbn=978-0-292-75566-6 |location=Austin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hughes |first=David |url={{Google Books URL|OLFA5-yjSIsC}} |title=The Complete Lynch |date=2001 |publisher=[[Virgin Books|Virgin]] |isbn=978-0-7535-0598-4 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Woods |first=Paul A. |url=https://archive.org/details/weirdsvilleusa00paul |title=Weirdsville USA: The Obsessive Universe of David Lynch |date=2000 |publisher=[[Information Today|Plexus]] |isbn=978-0-85965-291-9 |location=London}}
* {{Cite book |last=Kaleta |first=Kenneth C. |title=David Lynch |date=1995 |publisher=[[Gale (publisher)|Twayne]] |isbn=978-0-8057-9323-9 |series=Twayne's filmmakers series |location=New York}}
* {{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Jeff |url={{Google Books URL|YlGDBAAAQBAJ}} |title=Pervert in the Pulpit: Morality in the Works of David Lynch |date=2004 |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |isbn=978-0-7864-1753-7 |location=Jefferson, N.C.}}
* {{Cite book |title=Snowmen: David Lynch |date=2007 |publisher=Steidl |isbn=978-3-86521-467-6 |editor-last=Lynch |editor-first=David |editor-mask=2 |location=Göttingen |language=fr}}
* {{Cite book |last=Olson |first=Greg |url={{Google Books URL|x4egzlIAgJQC}} |title=David Lynch: Beautiful Dark |date=2008 |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield#Imprints|Scarecrow Press]] |isbn=978-0-8108-5917-3 |series=Filmmakers |location=Lanham, Md |oclc=212410238}}
* {{Cite book |last=Mactaggart |first=Allister |url=https://archive.org/details/filmpaintingsofd0000mact |title=The Film Paintings of David Lynch: Challenging Film Theory |date=2010 |publisher=[[Intellect Books|Intellect]] |isbn=978-1-84150-332-5 |location=Bristol ; Chicago}}
* {{Cite book |last=Fossali |first=Pierluigi Basso |title=Interpretazione Tra Mondi: il Pensiero Figurale di David Lynch |date=2006 |publisher=ETS |isbn=978-88-467-1671-2 |location=Pisa |language=it}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bertetto |first=Paolo |title=David Lynch |date=2008 |publisher=Marsilio |isbn=978-88-317-9393-3 |location=Venezia |language=it}}
* {{Cite book |last=Seknadje |first=Enrique |url={{Google Books URL|DUPECQAAQBAJ}} |title=David Lynch: Un Cinéma du Maléfique |date=2010 |publisher=Camion blanc |isbn=978-2-35779-086-5 |series=Camion noir |location=Rosières-en-Haye}}
* {{Cite book |last=Gleyzon |first=François-Xavier |title=David Lynch in Theory |date=2010 |publisher=[[Charles University|Univerzita Karlova v Praze]] |isbn=978-80-7308-317-5 |location=Prague}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Chion |first1=Michel |title=David Lynch |last2=Lynch |first2=David K. |date=2006 |publisher=BFI |isbn=978-1-84457-030-0 |edition=2nd |location=London}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Barzegar |first=Ebrahim |date=13 July 2015 |title=Mulholland Drive: An Intertextual Reading |journal=CINEJ Cinema Journal |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=62–78 |doi=10.5195/cinej.2014.114 |issn=2158-8724 |doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Barzegar |first=Ebrahim |date=11 November 2016 |title=Labyrinths and Illusions in David Lynch's Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire |journal=CINEJ Cinema Journal |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=168–188 |doi=10.5195/cinej.2016.150 |issn=2158-8724 |doi-access=free}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Sister project links|d=yes|commonscat=yes|n=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|species=no|s=no|wikt=no}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://www.youtube.com/c/DAVIDLYNCHTHEATER/ Official YouTube Channel]
* {{IMDb name|0000186}}
* [http://www.moviefone.com/celebrity/david-lynch/1031718/main David Lynch] at [[Moviefone]]
* {{Discogs artist|David Lynch}}
*[http://www.songwriter.co.uk/page807.html David lynch at International Songwriters Association]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20180815141223/http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/lynch.html Bibliography of books and articles about Lynch (archived 2018)] via [[University of California, Berkeley Libraries|UC Berkeley Media Resources Center]]
{{David Lynch}}
{{Navboxes
|title = [[List of accolades received by David Lynch|Awards for David Lynch]]
|list  =
{{Academy Honorary Award}}
{{BAFTA Award for Best Film recipients}}
{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director}}
{{Cannes Film Festival Best Director Award}}
{{Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Director}}
{{Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement}}
{{Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement}}
{{The Life Career Award}}
{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Director}}
{{Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Director}}
{{Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay}}
{{San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Director}}
{{Saturn Award for Best Guest Starring Role on Television}}
{{TFCA Award for Best Director}}}}
{{Cannes Film Festival jury presidents}}
{{Venice Film Festival jury presidents}}
{{Transcendental Meditation}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, David}}
[[Category:David Lynch| ]]
[[Category:1946 births]]
[[Category:2025 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:20th-century American screenwriters]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American screenwriters]]
[[Category:21st-century American memoirists]]
[[Category:Academy Honorary Award recipients]]
[[Category:AFI Conservatory alumni]]
[[Category:American comic strip cartoonists]]
[[Category:American experimental filmmakers]]
[[Category:American experimental musicians]]
[[Category:American film producers]]
[[Category:American founders]]
[[Category:American furniture designers]]
[[Category:American horror film directors]]
[[Category:American libertarians]]
[[Category:American lyricists]]
[[Category:American male painters]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:American male voice actors]]
[[Category:American music video directors]]
[[Category:American people of Finnish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Swedish descent]]
[[Category:American philanthropists]]
[[Category:American rock musicians]]
[[Category:American surrealist artists]]
[[Category:American television directors]]
[[Category:Animators from Montana]]
[[Category:Artists from Missoula, Montana]]
[[Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery]]
[[Category:California Democrats]]
[[Category:Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director winners]]
[[Category:César Award winners]]
[[Category:Coffee table book writers]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1970s]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1980s]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 1990s]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 2000s]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 2010s]]
[[Category:Counterculture of the 2020s]]
[[Category:Deaths from emphysema]]
[[Category:Directors of Palme d'Or winners]]
[[Category:European Film Awards winners (people)]]
[[Category:Film directors from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Film directors from Montana]]
[[Category:Founders of charities]]
[[Category:George Washington University Corcoran School alumni]]
[[Category:Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement recipients]]
[[Category:Male actors from California]]
[[Category:Male actors from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Male actors from Montana]]
[[Category:Male actors from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Musicians from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Musicians from Missoula, Montana]]
[[Category:Musicians from Philadelphia]]
[[Category:Officers of the Legion of Honour]]
[[Category:Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts alumni]]
[[Category:People from Missoula, Montana]]
[[Category:Postmodernist filmmakers]]
[[Category:Respiratory disease deaths in California]]
[[Category:Sacred Bones Records artists]]
[[Category:School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from California]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from Montana]]
[[Category:Surrealist filmmakers]]
[[Category:Television producers from California]]
[[Category:Television producers from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Television show creators]]
[[Category:Tobacco-related deaths]]
[[Category:Transcendental Meditation exponents]]
[[Category:Writers from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Writers from Missoula, Montana]]
[[Category:Writers from Philadelphia]]