David Lynch
Known for: Directing
David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Lynch received critical acclaim for his films, which are often distinguished by their surrealist, dreamlike qualities. In his 58-year career, he was awarded numerous accolades, including the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2006 and an Honorary Academy Award in 2019. 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 filmmaker of the current era." Lynch studied painting before he began making short films in the late 1960s. His first feature-length film was the independent surrealist film Eraserhead (1977), which saw success as a midnight movie. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for the biographical drama The Elephant Man (1980) and the mystery films Blue Velvet (1986) and Mulholland Drive (2001). His romantic crime drama Wild at Heart (1990) won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He also directed the space opera adaptation Dune (1984), the surrealist neo-noir Lost Highway (1997), the biographical drama The Straight Story (1999), and the experimental film Inland Empire (2006). Lynch and Mark Frost created the ABC series Twin Peaks (1990–91), for which Lynch was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards for 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 its limited series revival (2017). He has also worked as an actor, including his portrayals of FBI agent Gordon Cole in Twin Peaks and director John Ford in Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans (2022), as well as guest roles in TV series such as The Cleveland Show (2010–13), Louie (2012), and Robot Chicken (2020, 2022). Lynch's other artistic endeavours included his work as a musician, encompassing the studio albums BlueBOB (2001), Crazy Clown Time (2011), and The Big Dream (2013), as well as painting and photography. He has written the books Images (1994), Catching the Big Fish (2006), and Room to Dream (2018). He has directed several music videos for artists such as Chris Isaak, X Japan, Moby, Interpol, Nine Inch Nails, and Donovan, and commercials for Calvin Klein, Dior, L'Oreal, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci, and the New York City Department of Sanitation. A practitioner of Transcendental Meditation (TM), he founded the David Lynch Foundation, which seeks to fund the teaching of TM in schools and has since widened its scope to other at-risk populations, including the homeless, veterans, and refugees.
Filmography
Series
Family Guy
Gus (voice)
1999
Series
Family Guy
David Lynch (voice)
1999
Series
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
Self
1992
Series
Twin Peaks
Gordon Cole
1990
Series
Robot Chicken
Mad Scientist (voice)
2005
Series
The Oscars
Self
1953
Series
The Cleveland Show
2009
Series
The Cleveland Show
Gus (voice)
2009
Film '72
Self
1971
Series
Louie
Jack Dall
2010
Film
Dune
Spice Miner (uncredited)
1984
Film
The Fabelmans
John Ford
2022
Series
Legends
Self
2006
Film
The Elephant Man
Man in the Bowler Hat in the Mob Chasing Merrick (uncredited)
1980
Film
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me
Gordon Cole
1992
Film
Inland Empire
Bucky J, the gaffer (voice)
2006
Series
Leçon de Cinéma
Self
2004
Series
The Nineties
Self (archive footage)
2017
Series
This Is Pop
Self (archive footage)
2021
Series
Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!
Self - Filmmaker
2026
Series
Scene by Scene
Self
1997
Series
Un film et son époque
Self
2003
Film
Lucky
Howard
2017
Film
Beatles '64
Self
2024
Film
Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces
Gordon Cole
2014
Film
Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
Self
2019
Independent Focus
Self
1998
Film
David Lynch: The Art Life
Self
2017
Film
WHAT DID JACK DO?
Detective
2017
Series
DumbLand
Randy / Wife / Sparky (voice)
2001
Film
Side by Side
Self
2012
Film
I Know Catherine, the Log Lady
Self
2026
Film
Lumière & Company
Self
1995
Film
Nadja
Morgue Receptionist
1995
Film
Elvis | Viva Las Vegas
Self
2008
Film
Roy Orbison and Friends: A Black and White Night
Self - Audience Member
1988
Film
Girlfriend's Day
Narrator (voice)
2017
Film
Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch
Self
1997
Film
Why Are We Creative?
Self
2018
Film
Mel Brooks: Make a Noise
Self
2013
Film
Plankton Salesmen
Self (archive footage)
2017
Film
Heart Beat
Painter (uncredited)
1980
Film
The Black Ghiandola
Man In Black
2017
Film
Hollywood Mavericks
Self
1990
Film
Lynch (one)
Self
2007
Film
The Reality of Truth
Self
2016
Film
Destination Dune
Self
1983
Film
Along for the Ride
Self
2016
Film
Morceaux de Cannes
2021
Film
The Amputee
The Nurse
1974
Film
Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction
Self
2013
Film
The Number of Completion
Self
2017
Film
The Hanging of Stuart Cornfeld
2025
Film
Heart of the Festival
Self (archive footage)
2002
Film
The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money
Self
1996
Film
Meeting the Beatles in India
Self
2020
Film
What Is Cinema?
Self
2013
Film
La Traversée du désir
Self
2009
Film
Eraserhead Stories
Self
2001
Film
Made in the USA
Self
1993
Film
Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch
Self
1990
Film
Twin Peaks: The Phenomenon
Self
2017
Film
Night Flight: Born Again
Self
2016
Film
In Dreams: The Roy Orbison Story
Self
1999
Film
I Don't Know Jack
Self
2002
Film
The Man with the Gray Elevated Hair
Self
2017
Film
The Short Films of David Lynch
Self
2002
Film
The Sleeper Must Awaken: Making Dune
Self (voice) (archive footage)
2021
Film
Bad Binoculars
Self
2017
Film
Lynch/Oz
Self (archival footage)
2023
Film
Lynch 2
Self
2007
Film
Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments
Self
2004
Film
Great Directors
Self
2009
Film
Love, Death, Elvis & Oz: The Making of Wild at Heart
2004
Film
Rammstein in Amerika
Self
2015
Film
A Bloody Finger in Your Mouth
Self
2017
Film
Blue Velvet Revisited
Self
2016
Film
A Very Lovely Dream: One Week in Twin Peaks
Self
2017
Series
Cinéma, de notre temps
David Lynch
1989
Film
Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream
Self
2006
Crazy About the Movies: Dennis Hopper
Self
1991
Film
The Music of David Lynch
Self
2016
Film
Moby Doc
Self
2021
Film
2012: Time for Change
Self
2010
Film
Welcome Home: Mary Reber and the Twin Peaks Palmer House
Self
2021
Film
The Making of ‘Mulholland Drive’
Self
2004
Film
Critic
Self (voice)
2008
Film
A Slice of Lynch
Self
2007
Film
No Frank in Lumberton
Self
1988
Film
Mysteries of Love
Self (archive footage)
2002
Film
Brunes et Blondes
Self
2010
Film
Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die)
Self
2003
Film
Professor Goudet's Lessons
Self
2013
Film
The 8th Floor
Self
2014
Film
A Pot of Boiling Oil
Self
2017
Film
Ringo Starr: A Lifetime of Peace and Love
Self
2014
Film
I Had Bad Milk in Dehradun
Self
2017
Film
Brand: A Second Coming
Self
2015
Film
Behind the Red Curtain
Self
2017
Film
The A-Z of Separating People from their Money
Self
1998
Dino De Laurentiis: The Last Movie Mogul
Self
2001
Film
On Meditation
Self
2016
Film
Zelly & Me
Willie
1988
Film
See You on the Other Side Dear Friend
Self
2017
Film
David Lynch: Don't Look at Me
Self
1989
Film
The Polish Accountant
Self
2017
Film
Memory Film
2012
Film
Out Yonder — Neighbor Boy
2002
Film
Red Fish
O Sábio
2009
Film
Out Yonder — Teeth
2003
David Lynch in Oslo
Self
2010
Film
Do Not Pick Up Hitchhikers
Self
2017
Film
The Soul Detective
Himself
2009
Film
Tell It Martin
Self
2017
Film
BlueBob Egg
Billy Groper
2002
Film
Between Two Worlds
Self
2014
Film
Out Yonder — Chicken
2007
Film
David Wants to Fly
Self
2010
Film
Sailing with Bushnell Keeler
1967
Film
My Beautiful Broken Brain
Self
2014
Film
Dynamic:01: The Best of DavidLynch.com
himself
2007
Film
Shadows of Paradise
2016
Film
Two Blue Balls
Self
2017
Film
The Original Image - David Lynch
2019
David Lynch: Insight
Self
2017
Film
Return to Mulholland Drive
Self
2003
Film
Does That Hurt You?
Self
2003
Film
Early Experiments
2008
Film
Don Van Vliet: Some YoYo Stuff
Himself
1994
Film
Boat
The Man
2003
Film
This Is Sparklehorse
Self
2022
Film
Meditation, Creativity, Peace
Self
2012
Film
David Lynch: The Virtual Life
himself
2020
It's a Beautiful World
Self
2014
Film
Curtains Up
2018
Film
Ångesthunden och Malmö under vatten
Himself
2011
Film
David Lynch: A Remembrance Both Wonderful and Strange
Self (archive footage)
2025
Film
The Way of Samodelkin
Stranger in a dream
2009
Film
David Lynch: 1985
Self
2005
Donovan: The Donovan Concert - Live in L.A.
Himself
2007
Film
Rocksteppy
Himself
2017
Film
Ruth, Roses, and Revolver
Himself
1987
Film
The Sound of Lynch
2007
Film
Hollyshorts Greeting
Himself
2008
Film
The Disc of Sorrow Is Installed
2002
Film
What Would David Lynch Do?
Self (Archived Footage)
2026
Film
Lamp
Self
2003
Film
David Lynch Teaches Creativity and Film
Himself
2019
Film
Twin Peaks Festival Greeting 2008
Self
2008
When Lynch Met Lucas
2010