On Jan. 15, acclaimed director, actor, visual artist, and musician David Lynch passed away at his daughter’s home after a hard-fought battle against emphysema.
Lynch, born Jan. 20, 1946, was a Los Angeles resident from 1970 to 2025. He lived there with his wife and daughter as he began studying filmmaking at the AFI Conservatory. During his time at the institution, he began working on his first feature film, “Eraserhead”, a hallucinatory film that explores the manifestations of paternal anxiety and horror into real-life nightmares.
Lynch immediately began to break barriers between the critically acclaimed films of the time and the underground surrealist culture that he was a fan of.
In 1984, he directed the original “Dune” film that was based on the 1965 novel by Frank Herbert. Later that decade, in 1986, he wrote and directed the neo-noir film “Blue Velvet” that blended psychological horror with film noir. The film dives into concepts of duality and corruption. “Blue Velvet” earned Lynch his second Academy Award for Best Director.
In 1990, the program “Twin Peaks” premiered on ABC, created by Lynch and screenwriter Mark Frost. The show is an American surrealist crime procedural drama. The show caused a “ripple effect” due to its constantly changing genre and art-house style. It ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991.
10 years later, Lynch unveiled yet another neo-noir mystery thriller; “Mulholland Drive”. The film offers new perspectives on life and nuanced takes on the human condition. It takes on difficult conversations under the wing of surrealism and artistic expression. “Mulholland Drive” was nominated for 61 awards and won 50, bridging the gap between the mainstream and the underground scene.
Lynch is often regarded as a career visionary, thanks to his experimental quality and unwillingness to conform. He wanted viewers to interpret films their way, and not to discern one single message himself.
“Life is very, very confusing,” said Lynch, “and so films should be allowed to be, too.”
Lynch began smoking at age 8 but in 2020, he was diagnosed with emphysema, a lung condition that causes shortness of breath. The 2025 Los Angeles fires forced him to evacuate from his Hollywood home. Although his family has not shared his official cause of death, many speculate that the smoke inhalation he suffered caused his emphysema to flare up, ultimately leading to his death.
Lynch’s memory within the filmmaking sphere and the community it serves will always be honored. His innovation in the scene cultivated fresh ground for his successors to plant the seeds of his legacy.
