LOS ANGELES (AP) — David Lynch, the filmmaker celebrated for his particularly dark and dreamlike vision in films such as “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” and the “Twin Peaks” TV series died just days before his 79th birthday.
His family announced the death Thursday in a Facebook post. The cause of death and location were not immediately available, but Lynch had made his emphysema public.
“We would appreciate some privacy right now. There is a big hole in the world now that he is no longer with us. But, as he said, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not the hole,'” the post read. “It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies throughout.”
Last summer, Lynch revealed to Sight and Sound that he had been diagnosed with emphysema and would not leave his home for fear of contracting the coronavirus or “even a cold.”
“I’ve had emphysema from smoking for so long and so I’m stuck at home whether I like it or not,” Lynch said, adding that he didn’t expect to make another film.
“I would try to do it remotely, if that proves necessary,” Lynch said. “I wouldn’t like that so much.”
Lynch was a former painter who broke through in the 1970s with the surrealist “Eraserhead” and who rarely managed to surprise and inspire audiences, peers and critics in the following decades. Its notable releases ranged from the neo-noir “Mulholland Drive” to the asymmetrical gothic of “Blue Velvet” to the eclectic and eccentric “Twin Peaks” which won three Golden Globes, two Emmys and even a Grammy for its theme song.
“‘Blue Velvet,’ ‘Mulholland Drive,’ and ‘Elephant Man’ defined him as a singular dreamer and visionary who made films that felt handmade,” Steven Spielberg said in a statement. Spielberg noted that he chose Lynch to play director John Ford in the film. 2022 film “The Fabelmans”.
“Here’s one of my heroes (Ford) – David Lynch playing one of my heroes. It was surreal and felt like a scene from one of David’s films,” Spielberg said. “The world will miss such an original and unique voice.”
Lynch has never won a competitive Oscar. He received nominations for directing “The Elephant Man,” “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” and, in 2019, was presented an honorary Oscar for lifelong achievement.
“To the Academy and everyone who has helped me along my journey, thank you,” he said at the time, with typically offbeat remarks. “You have a very pretty face. Good night.”
His other credits include the crime novel “Wild at Heart”, winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival; the biographical drama “The Elephant Man” and the G-rated and utterly straightforward “The Straight Story.” Actors appearing regularly in his films included Kyle McLachlan, Laura Dern, Naomi Watts and Richard Farnsworth.
Lynch was a Missoula, Montana, native who moved often with his family as a child and long felt at home away from the classroom, free to explore his fascination with the world. He had an early gift for the visual arts and a passion for travel and discovery that led him to enroll at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and begin a decade-long apprenticeship as a as a director of short films.
“David always had a cheerful disposition and a sunny personality, but he was always drawn to dark things,” a childhood friend is quoted as saying in “Room to Dream,” a 2018 book by Lynch and Kristine McKenna. This is one of the mysteries of David.
