David Lynch

David Keith Lynch: A Filmmaker’s Journey

Imagine stepping into a world where dreams and reality intertwine in the most surreal ways—this is the realm that David Keith Lynch has masterfully crafted through his films, paintings, and music. Born on January 20, 1946, Lynch’s path to becoming one of America’s most influential filmmakers began with a mix of fear and fascination.

Early Life and Education

Of course, I had the usual fears, like going to school for me back then, school was a crime against young people. The teachers didn’t encourage knowledge or a positive attitude. But alongside his schooling, Lynch joined the Boy Scouts and rose to the highest rank of Eagle Scout. He was present at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy on his 15th birthday.

From an early age, painting captivated him, leading him to pursue it as a career path when he lived in Virginia. At Francis C. Hammond High School, Lynch did not excel academically but was popular with other students. He later studied painting at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design before transferring to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

He left after only a year and decided to travel around Europe for three years instead. However, they returned to the United States after spending only two weeks in Europe due to disappointment.

The Birth of Eraserhead

Lynch moved to Philadelphia and enrolled at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He began a relationship with a fellow student, Peggy Reavey, whom he married in 1967. They had a daughter, Jennifer, who was born the following year. Lynch lived cheaply with his family but felt intense fear in the city due to violence and crime. To support them, he took a job printing engravings.

Lynch began making short films at the Pennsylvania Academy, producing ‘Six Men Getting Sick’ (1967) using a low-cost camera. He then received commissions for film installations, spending $478 on a new camera but realizing the first development was a disaster. With leftover money, Lynch created his next short film, ‘The Alphabet’ (1968), which starred his wife and featured a distorted sound effect.

The rest of it was just subconscious. Learning about the newly founded American Film Institute, which gave grants to filmmakers who could support their application with a prior work and a script for a new project, Lynch decided to send them a copy of The Alphabet along with a script he had written for a new short film that would be almost entirely live action, The Grandmother.

The institute agreed to help finance the work, initially offering him $5,000 out of his requested budget of $7,200, but later granting him the additional $2,200. Starring people he knew from both work and college and filmed in his own house, The Grandmother featured a neglected boy who ‘grows’ a grandmother from a seed to care for him.

Eraserhead: A Dystopian Vision

In 1970, Lynch moved with his wife and daughter to Los Angeles, where he began studying filmmaking at the AFI Conservatory. He began writing a script for a proposed work, Gardenback, that had ‘unfolded from this painting I’d done.’ In this venture he was supported by a number of figures at the Conservatory, who encouraged him to lengthen the script and add more dialogue, which he reluctantly agreed to do.

All the interference on his Gardenback project made him fed up with the Conservatory and led him to quit after returning to start his second year and being put in first-year classes. AFI dean Frank Daniel asked Lynch to reconsider, believing that he was one of the school’s best students. Lynch agreed on the condition that he could create a project that would not be interfered with.

Feeling that Gardenback was ‘wrecked,’ he set out on a new film, Eraserhead. Eraserhead was planned to be about 42 minutes long (it ended up being 89 minutes), its script was only 21 pages, and Lynch was able to create the film without interference.

Filming began on May 29, 1972, at night in some abandoned stables. The AFI gave Lynch a $10,000 grant, but it was not enough to complete the film, and under pressure from studios after the success of the relatively cheap feature film Easy Rider, it was unable to give him more.

Lynch was then supported by a loan from his father and money that he earned from a paper route that he took up, delivering The Wall Street Journal. Not long into Eraserhead’s production, Lynch and Peggy amicably separated and divorced, and he began living full-time on set.

Eraserhead: A Critical Success

In 1977, Lynch married Mary Fisk, sister of Jack Fisk. Not a single reviewer of the film understood it in the way he intended. Filmed in black and white, Eraserhead tells the story of Henry (Jack Nance), a quiet young man living in a dystopian industrial wasteland, whose girlfriend gives birth to a deformed baby whom she leaves in his care. It was heavily influenced by the fearful mood of Philadelphia, and Lynch has called it ‘my Philadelphia Story.’

Due to financial problems the filming of Eraserhead was haphazard, regularly stopping and starting again. It was in one such break in 1974 that Lynch created the short film The Amputee, a one-shot film about two minutes long.

Lynch proposed that he make The Amputee to present to AFI to test two different types of film stock. Eraserhead was finally finished in 1976. Lynch tried to get it entered into the Cannes Film Festival, but while some reviewers liked it, others felt it was awful, and it was not selected for screening.

Reviewers rejected Eraserhead at the New York Film Festival but it was screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Distributor Ben Barenholtz helped get it out in the US, and it became popular on the midnight movie circuit. Stanley Kubrick praised it as one of his favorite films.

The Elephant Man: A Critical and Commercial Triumph

Stuart Cornfeld saw Eraserhead and offered to help Lynch with his next film, Ronnie Rocket. However, it was not picked up by financiers, so Cornfeld found four scripts for Lynch. He chose The Elephant Man, based on a true story about Joseph Merrick. Filming took place in London, and the movie starred John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins.

The Elephant Man was a critical and commercial success, earning eight Academy Award nominations. After its success, George Lucas offered Lynch the chance to direct Return of the Jedi, but he declined. Instead, Lynch worked on a film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune, which was also a big-budget science fiction epic.

De Laurentiis hoped for a Star Wars-like success, but it was a critical and commercial dud. An ‘extended cut’ was released later, which Lynch objected to.

Twin Peaks: A Television Phenomenon

Lynch began writing and drawing a comic strip called The Angriest Dog in the World. He also became interested in photography, traveling to northern England to capture industrial landscapes. He was contractually obliged to produce two more projects for De Laurentiis, but neither went past the script stage.

His next film, Blue Velvet, was set in North Carolina and revolved around a mystery involving a college student and a psychopath. Lynch included pop songs from the 1960s in the film, which sparked his idea. The film received negative reactions at preview screenings but became a critical and commercial success.

Blue Velvet earned Lynch his second Academy Award nomination for Best Director. It introduced him into the mainstream, after finding success with The Elephant Man.

The Return of Twin Peaks

In the late 1980s, Lynch began working in television, directing a short piece for French television. They went on to work on a comedy script called One Saliva Bubble, but that did not see completion. Lynch and Frost had an idea for a drama series while talking in a coffee shop and worked on their third project, initially called Northwest Passage but eventually Twin Peaks (1990-91).

Twin Peaks featured FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper as the investigator trying to identify the killer of popular high school student Laura Palmer. The series was a success with high ratings in the US and other countries, spawning a cult following.

However, ABC executives believed that public interest in the show was decreasing and insisted on revealing Laura Palmer’s killer’s identity prematurely. The network canceled Twin Peaks after a ratings drop, but Lynch directed the final episode, which ended with a cliffhanger.

Continuing Creativity

Lynch also created a theatrical piece called Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted with composer Angelo Badalamenti. Meanwhile, Lynch worked on various commercials and projects, including an executive producer role for his friend Monty Montgomery’s novel Wild at Heart, which he adapted into a film starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern.

The film Wild at Heart won the Palme d’Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. After Wild at Heart’s success, David Lynch returned to Twin Peaks, creating a prequel-sequel film called Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). The film explored Laura Palmer’s last days and dealt with darker themes like incest and murder.

It was initially a commercial failure but received critical acclaim years later. Lynch then worked on TV shows On the Air and Hotel Room before returning to film with Lost Highway in 1997, followed by The Straight Story in 1999, which marked a departure from his usual style with its lack of profanity and violence.

Later Films and Projects

In 2000, Lynch approached ABC for a Mulholland Drive pilot but was given $7 million to complete it as a film instead. The result was a non-linear narrative that performed well at the box office and earned Lynch several awards, including Best Director at the Cannes Film Festival and from the New York Film Critics Association.

He received his third Academy Award nomination for Best Director. In 2016, the film was named the best film of the 21st century in a BBC poll. Lynch used the Internet as a distribution channel, releasing new series on his website. In 2002, he created DumbLand and Rabbits, followed by Inland Empire in 2006.

In 2009, Lynch collaborated with Werner Herzog on My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? He made guest appearances on The Cleveland Show and directed a concert for Duran Duran. Lynch was believed to be retiring from the film industry. I’ve talked to him about it, OK?

In a June 2012 Los Angeles Times interview, Lynch said he lacked inspiration but would start a project if he fell in love with the idea. He appeared on FX’s Louie as Jack Dahl in 2012 and received a lifetime achievement award at Plus Camerimage in Poland.

In January 2013, Laura Dern confirmed that Lynch was working on a new project, which turned out to be the short documentary film Idem Paris. On June 28, 2013, Lynch directed a video for Nine Inch Nails’ song ‘Came Back Haunted.’

He and Frost started shooting a new season of Twin Peaks in 2015, but Lynch initially couldn’t direct due to budget issues. In May 2015, Lynch said he would return to directing the revival after sorting out his issues with Showtime.

Filming was completed by April 2016, and the two-episode premiere aired on May 21, 2017. Lynch seemed to confirm that he had retired from film in 2017, but later clarified that he meant no such thing. Since The Return’s finale, there has been speculation about a fourth season of Twin Peaks, with Lynch saying it would not air before 2021 if it happened.

In the present, Lynch does weather reports and creates content on his website. David Lynch has picked a random number from 1 to 10 for each day of the weather report he presented since June 2002. In one of his weather reports, Lynch detailed a dream about being a German soldier shot by an American soldier on D-Day.

After his final weather report on December 16, 2022, Lynch said the series would not return. Lynch has released several projects on YouTube, including his web series Rabbits in June 2020 and face masks with his art on them for the COVID-19 pandemic in July 2020.

He was cast in Steven Spielberg’s film The Fabelmans in a role as film director John Ford and received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination. Lynch has been diagnosed with emphysema, but he attributes it to years of smoking and is no longer able to direct in person. Despite this, he continues to work on existing projects and has expressed his admiration for European filmmakers such as Fellini, Godard, and Kubrick.

Lynch’s work often features recurring motifs such as dreams, dreamlike imagery, and the use of magic realism. He also frequently incorporates industrial imagery, which he finds appealing due to its association with power and machinery. And I like fire and smoke. And the sounds are so powerful. It’s just big stuff. It means that things are being made, and I really like that.

Another theme is the dark underbelly of violent criminal activity in a society, such as Frank Booth’s gang in Blue Velvet and the cocaine smugglers in Twin Peaks. Except The Elephant Man and Dune, which are set in Victorian London and a fictitious galaxy respectively, all of Lynch’s films are set in the United States, and he has said, ‘I like certain things about America and it gives me ideas.’

A number of his works, including Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks and Lost Highway, are intentionally reminiscent of 1950s American culture despite being set in later decades of the 20th century. Lynch also tends to feature his leading female actors in ‘split’ roles, so that many of his female characters have multiple, fractured identities.

His films frequently feature characters with supernatural or omnipotent qualities. They can be seen as physical manifestations of various concepts, such as hatred or fear. Lynch is also widely noted for his collaborations with various production artists and composers on his films and other productions.

Filmography and Other Work

Lynch trained as a painter and continues to create works that are described as ‘organic, violent comedies.’ His paintings often feature dark colors and contain letters and words added to the artwork. Lynch cites Francis Bacon as his ‘number one kinda hero painter’ and has been exhibited in several major art retrospectives, including ‘The Air is on Fire’ at Fondation Cartier, Paris, and ‘The Unified Field’ at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.

His favorite photographers include William Eggleston, Joel-Peter Witkin, and Diane Arbus. Lynch has been involved in several music projects, many of them related to his films, including sound design for some of his films (sometimes alongside collaborators Alan Splet, Dean Hurley, and Angelo Badalamenti).

His album genres include experimental rock, ambient soundscapes and, most recently, avant-garde electropop music. He produced and wrote lyrics for Julee Cruise’s first two albums. In 1991, Lynch directed a teaser trailer for Michael Jackson’s album Dangerous. Lynch also worked on the 1998 Jocelyn Montgomery album Lux Vivens (Living Light). He composed music for Wild at Heart, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, Mulholland Drive, and Rabbits.

In 2001, he released BlueBob, a rock album performed by Lynch and John Neff. In 2009, his new book-CD set Dark Night of the Soul was released. In 2008, he started his own record label, David Lynch MC.

In November 2010, Lynch released two electropop music singles, ‘Good Day Today’ and ‘I Know.’ The singles were followed by an album, Crazy Clown Time, which was released in November 2011 and described as an ‘electronic blues album.’

On September 29, 2011, Lynch released This Train with vocalist and longtime musical collaborator Chrystabell on the La Rose Noire label. In 2013, Lynch released The Big Dream, including the single ‘I’m Waiting Here,’ with Swedish singer-songwriter Lykke Li.

For Record Store Day 2014, David Lynch released The Big Dream Remix EP which featured four songs from his album remixed by various artists. On November 2, 2018, a collaborative album by Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti, titled Thought Gang, was released on vinyl and on compact disc. In May 2019, Lynch provided guest vocals on the track ‘Fire is Coming’ by Flying Lotus. In May 2021, Lynch produced and directed Scottish artist Donovan’s song ‘I Am the Shaman’ for Donovan’s 75th birthday.

Lynch designed furniture for his film Lost Highway (1997) and presented a collection at the Milan Furniture Fair in April 1997. He also conceptualized and designed a nightclub in Paris called Silencio, which opened in October 2011.

Philosophical and Spiritual Pursuits

Lynch wrote two books: Catching the Big Fish (2006), about meditation and creativity, and Room to Dream (2018), a biography-memoir hybrid. He has received multiple awards, including three Academy Award nominations and France’s César Award for Best Foreign Film, as well as the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

Critics have recognized Lynch as one of the most important filmmakers of his era, with The Guardian calling him ‘the Renaissance man of modern American filmmaking.’ Lynch has had several long-term relationships. In January 1968, he married Peggy Reavey with one child Jennifer Lynch (born in 1968), they filed for divorce in 1974. He married Mary Fisk in June 1977 with one child Austin Jack Lynch (born in 1982). They separated in 1985 and divorced in 1987. He developed a relationship with Isabella Rossellini, they lived together from 1986 to 1991. In 1992, he had a son Riley Sweeney Lynch with Mary Sweeney. The couple married in 2006 but filed for divorce that June. In 2009, he married actress Emily Stofle, who appeared in his film, and they have one child Lula Boginia Lynch (born in 2012).

David Lynch endorsed Bernie Sanders in 2016 and initially praised Donald Trump for disrupting the country, later clarifying that Trump would not go down in history as a great president if he continued on his course.

Advocacy and Philanthropy

Lynch advocates Transcendental Meditation as a spiritual practice, was initiated into it in 1973, and has practiced it consistently since then. He launched the David Lynch Foundation in 2005 to promote TM and fund research on its effects.

Lynch is on MUM’s board of trustees and hosts an annual ‘David Lynch Weekend for World Peace and Meditation’ there. He estimates spending $7 billion to build seven buildings where advanced meditation techniques would be practiced, but has spent only $400,000 so far and raised $1 million in donations. In 2009, David Lynch organized a benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall featuring Paul McCartney and other artists to support the David Lynch Foundation.

A documentary called ‘David Wants to Fly’ (2010) followed Lynch’s involvement with Transcendental Meditation (TM). Lynch wrote about the benefits of TM, describing it as leading to enlightenment and higher states of consciousness. He has a personal website where he posts short videos, interviews, and other content, including his weather report and ‘TODAY’S NUMBER’ drawing.

He also created a short film called ‘Rabbits’ for his website. Lynch launched a $500 million transcendental meditation world peace initiative in 2022 to fund TM for college students. He has been open about his health issues, including emphysema due to years of smoking, and quitting smoking in 2022.

In 2019, Lynch spoke about Transcendental Meditation using the full brain, utilizing it for enlightenment and higher states of consciousness. ‘I can hardly walk across a room,’ he said.