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David Lynch, legendary filmmaker, dies at 78
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David Lynch, the filmmaker celebrated for his uniquely dark and dreamlike vision in such movies as “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” and the TV series “Twin Peaks,” has died just days before his 79th birthday.
His family announced the death in a Facebook post on Thursday.
“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,’” the family’s post read. “It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”
The cause of death and location was not immediately available. Last summer, Lynch had revealed to Sight and Sound that he was diagnosed with emphysema and would not be leaving his home because of fears of contracting the coronavirus or “even a cold.”
“I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not,” Lynch said, adding he didn’t expect to make another film.
“I would try to do it remotely, if it comes to it,” Lynch said. “I wouldn’t like that so much.”
Lynch was a onetime painter who broke through in the 1970s with the surreal “Eraserhead” and rarely failed to startle and inspire audiences, peers and critics in the following decades. His notable releases ranged from the neo-noir “Mulholland Drive” to the skewed 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 music. Pauline Kael, the film critic, called Lynch “the first populist surrealist — a Frank Capra of dream logic.”
“‘Blue Velvet,’ ‘Mulholland Drive’ and ‘Elephant Man’ defined him as a singular, visionary dreamer who directed films that felt handmade,” director Steven Spielberg said in a statement. Spielberg noted that he had cast Lynch as director John Ford, one of his early influences, in his 2022 film “The Fabelmans.”
“It was surreal and seemed like a scene out of one of David’s own movies,” Spielberg said. “The world is going to miss such an original and unique voice.”
“Lynchian” became a style of its own, yet one that ultimately belonged only to him. Lynch’s films pulled disturbing surrealistic mysteries and unsettling noir nightmares out of ordinary life. In the opening scenes of “Blue Velvet,” among suburban homes and picket fences, an investigator finds a severed ear lying in a manicured lawn.
Steven Soderbergh, who told The Associated Press on Thursday that he was a proud owner of two end tables crafted by Lynch (his numerous hobbies included furniture design), called “Elephant Man” a perfect film.
“He’s one of those filmmakers who was influential but impossible to imitate. People would try but he had one kind of algorithm that worked for him and you attempted to recreate it at your peril,” Soderbergh told the AP. “As non-linear and illogical as they often seemed, they were clearly highly organized in his mind.”
Lynch never won a competitive Academy Award. He received nominations for directing “The Elephant Man,” “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” and, in 2019, was presented an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement.
“To the Academy and everyone who helped me along the way, thanks,” he said at the time, in characteristically off-beat remarks. “You have a very nice face. Good night.”
His other credits included the crime story “Wild at Heart,” winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival; the biographical drama “The Elephant Man” and the G-rated, aptly straightforward “The Straight Story.” Actors regularly appearing in his movies included Kyle McLachlan, Laura Dern, Naomi Watts and Richard Farnsworth.
Lynch was a Missoula, Montana, native who moved around often with his family as a child and would long feel most at home away from the classroom, free to explore his fascination with the world. Lynch’s mother was a English teacher and his father a research scientist with the U.S. Agriculture Department. He was raised in the Pacific Northwest before the family settled in Virginia. Lynch’s childhood was by all accounts free of trauma. He praised his parents as “loving” and “fair” in his memoir, though he also recalled formative memories that shaped his sensibility.
One day near his family’s Pacific Northwest home, Lynch recalled seeing a beautiful, naked woman emerge from the woods bloodied and weeping.
“I saw a lot of strange things happen in the woods,” Lynch told Rolling Stone. “And it just seemed to me that people only told you 10% of what they knew and it was up to you to discover the other 90%.”
He had an early gift for visual arts and a passion for travel and discovery. He dropped out of several colleges before enrolling in the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, beginning of a decade-long apprenticeship as a maker of short movies. He was working as a printmaker in 1966 when he made his first film, a four-minute short named “Six Men Getting Sick (Six Times).” That and other worked landed Lynch a place at the then-nascent American Film Institute.
There he began working on what would become his 1977 feature debut, “Eraserhead.”
“David’s always had a cheerful disposition and sunny personality, but he’s always been attracted to dark things,” a childhood friend is quoted as saying in “Room to Dream,” a 2018 book by Lynch and Kristine McKenna. That’s one of the mysteries of David.”
Aside from furniture making and painting, Lynch was a coffee maker, composer, sculptor and cartoonist. He exuded a Zen peacefulness that he attributed to Transcendental Meditation, which his David Lynch Foundation promoted. In the 2017 short film “What Did Jack Do?” he played a detective interrogating a monkey.
Lynch was himself a singular presence, almost as beguiling and deadpan as his own films. For years, he posted videos of daily weather reports from Southern California. When asked for analysis of his films, Lynch typically demurred.
“I like things that leave some room to dream,” he told the New York Times in 1995. “A lot of mysteries are sewn up at the end, and that kills the dream.”
US President Donald Trump says an agreement with Iran has been “largely negotiated” and details will be announced soon.
The deal would include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, he said on Saturday, without giving further details.
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei earlier told state television that US and Iranian positions had been converging in the last week, but warned that did not mean agreements would be reached on key issues and accused the Americans of “contradictory statements”.
On social media, Trump said he had a “very good call” with the leaders of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and others about a “Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to PEACE”.
“An agreement has been largely negotiated, subject to finalization between the United States of America, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the various other Countries, as listed,” Trump said.
“Final aspects and details of the deal are currently being discussed, and will be announced shortly.”
He also said he had a call on Saturday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which “went very well”.
The president has not given any further details on the deal, but has insisted any agreement would “absolutely” prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
Later, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said: “I congratulate President Donald Trump on his extraordinary efforts to pursue peace,” and said the phone call had been “very useful and productive”.
Pakistan has been helping to negotiate a peace deal, serving as an intermediary.
“We hope to host the next round of talks very soon,” he wrote in the statement on X.
The US and Israel launched wide-ranging strikes on Iran on 28 February, sparking conflict across the Middle East. Iran responded by launching attacks on Israel and US-allied states in the Gulf.
A ceasefire in Iran was agreed in early April, and since then Washington and Tehran have engaged in talks over a long-term peace deal.
Speaking to state television on Saturday, Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei also described a “memorandum of understanding”, saying Iran’s intention was to reach an agreement “in the form of a framework, consisting of 14 points”.
Baqaei said they were in the process of finalising the memorandum, so further talks could be held within 30 to 60 days “and ultimately a final agreement can be reached”.
The new sense of momentum comes after the mood appeared to have soured in Washington, with anonymous officials briefing US media on Friday that the administration was preparing for a fresh round of military strikes, although no final decision had been made.
On Friday, the president posted on Truth Social that he would not attend his son Donald Jr’s wedding this weekend so he could remain in Washington DC “during this important period of time”.
Last week, Trump had said the truce was on “massive life support” after rejecting Tehran’s demands, labelling them “totally unacceptable”.
The US has blockaded Iranian ports since 13 April.
On Saturday, US Central Command (Centcom) said it had redirected 100 vessels, disabled four, and allowed 26 humanitarian aid ships to pass since the blockade began.
Centcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper said its forces had been “highly effective” in “allowing zero trade into and out of Iranian ports which has squeezed Iran economically”.
Meanwhile, Iran has claimed military control of an area around the Strait of Hormuz, and has said all transit through the strait “requires coordination with and authorisation from the Persian Gulf Strait Authority”.
The US and Gulf allies have repeatedly rejected Iranian attempts to assert control over the strait, and the US has told ships not to comply with Iran’s rules.
Torrential rainfall has brought parts of New York City to a standstill after flash floods submerged roads, disrupted transport systems, and triggered chaotic scenes across multiple boroughs, including Queens and Brooklyn.
A viral video circulating on social media captured the intensity of the flooding, showing a woman struggling in powerful currents after attempting to escape a stranded bus.
The footage, widely shared online, highlighted the dangerous conditions as emergency responders rushed to affected areas.
Heavy downpours overwhelmed drainage systems on Wednesday, with authorities reporting that some areas received about 5 centimetres of rain within just one hour, turning streets and underpasses into fast-moving streams, leaving vehicles stranded and commuters trapped.
Reports say that in Brooklyn and Queens, the impact was particularly severe as floodwaters rose rapidly, forcing some motorists to abandon their vehicles while others waited for rescue on rooftops and elevated ground.
Transit authorities confirmed major disruptions across the city’s transport network.
Officials from New York Emergency Management issued urgent warnings as conditions worsened, advising residents to avoid floodwaters and move to higher ground where necessary.
Amid the ongoing crisis, authorities also referenced a separate fatal incident in Manhattan earlier in the week involving an open manhole.
The victim, identified as 56-year-old Donika Gocaj, died after accidentally stepping into a 10-foot-deep utility opening near Fifth Avenue.
They added, “Our thoughts remain with her family, and safety remains our top priority.”
Authorities say investigations into both the flooding impact and the manhole incident are ongoing as the city continues to recover from severe weather conditions.
United States President Donald Trump announced on Thursday, May 21, 2026, that he is uncertain whether he will attend his eldest son’s weekend wedding due to pressing geopolitical demands surrounding the war in Iran. The President’s eldest son, 48-year-old Donald Trump Jr., is scheduled to marry Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson, 39, over the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the Bahamas.
Despite the deeply personal milestone, the commander-in-chief revealed to reporters in the Oval Office that the worsening international conflict has severely restricted his schedule, complicating his ability to leave Washington during a critical diplomatic juncture.
The timing of the destination nuptials coincides with an intensely scrutinized push by the administration to broker an exit strategy for the highly unpopular war, which has dramatically deflated the President’s domestic approval ratings. Public dissatisfaction has intensified in recent weeks, with voters expressing deep anger over skyrocketing costs of living ahead of November’s high-stakes midterm elections.
The couple had initially explored hosting a grand, high-profile wedding at the White House, but those plans were ultimately scaled back to an intimate destination ceremony on a private island in the Bahamas to avoid political blowback during wartime.
Addressing the media regarding his potential travel plans, the President emphasized the precarious public relations situation he faces while American forces remain heavily engaged in the Middle East stalemate. “He’d like me to go. It’s going to be just a small little private affair and I’m going to try and make it,” Trump told reporters.
“I said, ‘This is not good timing for me. I have a thing called Iran and other things.’ That’s one I can’t win on. If I do attend, I get killed. If I don’t attend, I get killed … by the fake news, of course.”
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