David Lynch, who transformed American cinema with his dreamlike vision, died on January 16, 2025, at his home in Los Angeles, just days before his 79th birthday. His death was announced on his official Facebook page.
Lynch's distinctive vision earned him three Academy Award nominations for Best Director and the description by critic Pauline Kael as "the first populist surrealist." In 2007, The Guardian declared him "the most important filmmaker of the current era."
Through films like Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive, and the TV series Twin Peaks, Lynch created a singular universe where the mundane became macabre and vice versa. His work lifted the manicured turf of suburban America to reveal the darkness writhing underneath — a perspective shaped by his childhood.
"My childhood was elegant homes, tree-lined streets, the milkman, building backyard forts," Lynch once said. "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."
In 2019, he received an Honorary Academy Award for his contributions to cinema.
In 2024, he had developed emphysema from years of smoking, which limited his ability to direct. His last completed project was a brief appearance as director John Ford in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans.
Beyond filmmaking, Lynch was an accomplished painter, musician, and advocate for Transcendental Meditation, establishing the David Lynch Foundation to bring meditation practices to at-risk populations. He maintained his creative output until the end, continuing his popular daily weather reports on YouTube until December 2022.
As Lynch himself once observed about his creative process: "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."
Previously:
• 'In Heaven' from David Lynch's Eraserhead is one of my favorite scenes of all time
• This book of David Lynch's paintings and drawings is full of endless inspiration
• What is this creature sitting in David Lynch's Office?
• David Lynch's 'Rabbits' changed the way I look at film
• David Lynch's Mystery Man's place in the horror pantheon
• And now, 35 minutes of commercials directed by David Lynch
• Twin Peaks star Chrystabell and David Lynch reunite for ethereal new album