The acclaimed American filmmaker David Lynch has died at the age of 78. While a cause of death has yet to be publicly announced, Lynch, a lifelong tobacco enthusiast, revealed in 2024 he was suffering from emphysema.
Best known for films such as Eraserhead (1977), Blue Velvet (1986) and Mulholland Drive (2001), as well as the hugely influential television series Twin Peaks (1990–91), Lynch – a committed transcendental meditator who worked across multiple mediums including painting, photography and music – was a true creative visionary.
Achieving mainstream commercial success while continually pushing artistic boundaries, Lynch’s impact on popular culture has been profound. The fact that the term “Lynchian”, shorthand for a dreamlike quality of mystery or menace, has passed into our shared cultural lexicon attests to this.
