Legendary director David Lynch dead at 78 just months after admitting he couldn’t ‘walk across a room’ or leave house
LEGENDARY director David Lynch has died at age 78 just months after revealing his struggle with emphysema.
The visionary’s death was announced in a statement on Facebook, sparking an outpouring of tributes from devoted fans across social media.
Lynch was best known for directing iconic works like Mulholland Drive, Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, and the cult classic show Twin Peaks.
“It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch,” Lynch’s family said in a statement.
“We would appreciate some privacy at this time. 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 added, “It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”
In August, Lynch told Sight and Sound magazine he had been diagnosed with emphysema and attributed the lung disease to his longtime smoking habit, which he said he started at eight years old.
“I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not,” he said at the time.
“It would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold.”
Two years after giving up cigarettes in 2022, Lynch revealed he could only walk a short distance across the room before running out of oxygen in his tank.
Lynch’s official cause of death hasn’t been revealed.
Tributes to the writer-director have poured in on social media from fans and Hollywood stars alike.
“RIP to the Legend. Twin Peaks was like nothing else! He’ll be missed,” one fan wrote on X.
“Such a terrible loss man. One hell of a storyteller and artist,” another added.
“No one saw the world like David Lynch. The world lost a master of cinema today,” a third mourned.
Who was David Lynch?
Filmmaking giant David Lynch died at age 78, his family announced in a Facebook post on January 16, 2025
“It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch. We would appreciate some privacy at this time,” the family statement said.
“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.’ It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”
Who was David Lynch?
Lynch, who was born on January 20, 1946, transcended American filmmaking with his dark, surrealistic artistic vision with films such as Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and the television show Twin Peaks.
His work blended elements of horror, film noir and a classical European surrealism.
Before he entered filmmaking, Lynch was revered as a painter.
He described his painting of of having to be “organic, violently done and crude” to “achieve that I try to let nature paint more than I paint.”
Lynch transitioned his artistic mindset and style into filmmaking in the late 1970s, when he burst onto the scene with his 1977 feature Eraserhead – a horrific, black-humored work that became a disturbing fixture on the midnight movie circuit.
The film quickly took Hollywood and the international movie industry by storm, leading to him signing with Mel Brooks’ production company.
The 1980 drama film The Elephant Man captivated audiences, earning eight Academy Award nominations.
Blue Velvet, a frightening hellride, combining film noir and psychological horror, took viewers through the underbelly of a small American town.
It earned Lynch a second Academy Award nomination for Best Director.
In the years after the film’s release, Blue Velvet was named one of the greatest films of the 1980s.
In April 1990, Lynch worked alongside screenwriter Mark Frost to produce the ABC horror mystery show Twin Peaks.
The show centered on a detective who teams with a fellow FBI agent to investigate the murder of a homecoming queen.
Although Twin Peaks only ran for two seasons before its cancelation, the show gained a following in the years that followed and is often cited as one of the greatest TV shows of all time.
Lynch was married four times throughout his life and had three children, Jennifer, Austin Jack, and Riley.
In August 2024, he diagnosed with emphysema after a lifetime of smoking. Lynch disclosed that he was unable to leave his home because of the pulmonary disease.
Other huge names in film also rushed to share heartfelt tributes to the beloved director.
Director Harmony Korine remembered Lynch in a statement shared with IndieWire, calling the late icon a “Mount Rushmore-level director.”
“He changed a lot of people’s lives. There will never be another one like him, because he made films at a point in history where nothing like that had ever been experienced before,” Korine said.
He went on to say Lynch “invented a new language.”
“He was a once in a generation talent who absorbed the embers of America’s wildness. He embraced his own inner logic and filtered it through a subconscious magic. He created worlds and unmatched vibrations.
“He hit on things that were inexplicable and sacred and beyond articulation. He is a treasure. His work will live forever.”
Director Ron Howard remembered Lynch in an X post as a “gracious man and fearless artist who followed his heart & soul and proved that radical experimentation could yield unforgettable cinema.”
Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn wrote on X, “RIP David Lynch. You inspired so many of us.”
FINAL PROJECTS
Last May, Lynch posted a cryptic video teasing fans that “something is coming” in his first post in 18 months.
Months later, he released an orchestral album called Cellophane Memories, which he said was inspired by a walk through a forest late at night.
The third season of Lynch’s iconic show Twin Peaks released in 2017, called Twin Peaks: The Return.
The 18 episodes of the limited series aired on Showtime and starred some of his usual collaborators including actors Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern, and Sheryl Lee.
Lynch’s final film was Inland Empire, a three-hour work that came out in 2006.
His fourth ex-wife, Emily Stofle, appeared in the movie. She also appeared in Twin Peaks.
After 14 years of marriage, Stofle filed for divorce in December 2023, leaving him unmarried at the time of his death.
Lynch is survived by his four children.