Filmmaker David Lynch, known for his surreal and unsettling films like Eraserhead and Mulholland Drive, has passed away at the age of 78.
Lynch’s career as a renowned filmmaker, screenwriter, and artist was distinguished by his unique style, delving deeply into the human psyche with captivating, dreamlike visuals. As an auteur, he masterfully fused experimental film techniques, blending unconventional horror and avant-garde cinema with box office profits.
RELATED: David Lynch Dies: ‘Twin Peaks’, ‘Blue Velvet’, ‘Elephant Man’ & ‘Eraserhead’ Visionary Was 78
Before making his first experimental shorts he studied painting at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in the sixties. His foray into film began with a one-minute short he created for a contest in Philadelphia that led him to the American Film Institute, where he made The Grandmother (1970) and started working on the indie cult classic, Eraserhead (1976).
Lynch went mainstream with The Elephant Man (1980) and ventured into science fiction with Dune, based on Frank Herbert’s novel and starring Kyle MacLachlan. Lynch would continue to collaborate with MacLachlan in future projects, including his next art house project, Blue Velvet (1986). The film starred Dennis Hopper, Isabella Rossellini, and Laura Dern offering a hallucinogenic voyeuristic peek at surrealist Americana.
Lynch ventured into television with the critically acclaimed Twin Peaks (1990-91), which follows FBI Agent Dale Cooper, portrayed by Kyle MacLachlan, as he investigates the death of Laura Palmer in the logging town of Twin Peaks. Lynch flexed his experimental directing style throughout the series with wild dream sequences and surreal set designs. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992) followed as a prequel, chronicling the final days of Laura Palmer, one year after the murder of Teresa Banks. Lynch revived the series in 2017 with the third season of Twin Peaks, picking up 25 years after the death of Laura Palmer.
His other notable films included Wild at Heart (1990), Lost Highway (1997), the cinematic masterpiece Mulholland Drive (2001), and Inland Empire (2006).
Scroll below to view the posters, film stills, and behind-the-scenes images from one of cinema’s most surrealist filmmakers.
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ERASERHEAD – 1976
Image Credit: Everett Collection ‘Eraserhead’ poster
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ERASERHEAD – 1976
Image Credit: Everett Collection Henry Spencer (Jack Nance) tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child
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THE ELEPHANT MAN – 1980
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection ‘The Elephant Man’ poster
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THE ELEPHANT MAN – 1980
Image Credit: Paramount/courtesy Everett Collection John Hurt stars alongside Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft, and John Gielgud in the story of a Victorian surgeon who rescues a heavily disfigured man mistreated as a sideshow freak. Beneath his monstrous façade lies a person of kindness, intelligence, and sophistication
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THE ELEPHANT MAN, BTS – 1980
Image Credit: Everett Collection David Lynch on the set of ‘The Elephant Man’
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DUNE – 1984
Image Credit: Universal/courtesy Everett Collection ‘Dune’ poster
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DUNE – 1984
Image Credit: Universal/courtesy Everett Collection A Duke’s son leads desert warriors against the galactic emperor and his father’s evil nemesis to free their desert world from the emperor’s rule.
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DUNE, BTS – 1984
Image Credit: Universal Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection Sting, director David Lynch and Kyle MacLachlan on set
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DUNE – 1984
Image Credit: Universal/courtesy Everett Collection Francesca Annis and Kyle MacLachlan
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DUNE, BTS – 1984
Image Credit: Universal/courtesy Everett Collection David Lynch on set of ‘Dune’
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DUNE, BTS – 1984
Image Credit: Universal Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection David Lynch and Rafaella De Laurentiis on set of ‘Dune’
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BLUE VELVET – 1986
Image Credit: De Laurentis Group/ Courtesy: Everett Collection. ‘Blue Velvet’ US poster
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BLUE VELVET – 1986
Image Credit: De Laurentis Group/ Courtesy: Everett Collection. Starring J. Michael Hunter, Isabella Rossellini, Dennis Hopper, Kyle MacLachlan, and Jack Nance.
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
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BLUE VELVET – 1986
Image Credit: De Laurentis Group/ Courtesy: Everett Collection. Laura Dern and Kyle MacLachlan
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BLUE VELVET – 1986
Image Credit: De Laurentis Group/ Courtesy: Everett Collection. ‘Blue Velvet’ Polish poster
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BLUE VELVET – 1986
Image Credit: De Laurentis Group/ Courtesy: Everett Collection. ‘Blue Velvet’ Turkish poster
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BLUE VELVET – 1986
Image Credit: De Laurentis Group/ Courtesy: Everett Collection Dennis Hopper, director David Lynch, Isabella Rossellini, during filming of ‘Blue Velvet’
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BLUE VELVET – 1986
Image Credit: De Laurentis Group/ Courtesy: Everett Collection. ‘Blue Velvet’ Czech poster
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BLUE VELVET, BTS – 1986
Image Credit: De Laurentis Group/ Courtesy: Everett Collection. Kyle MacLachlan and David Lynch on set
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BLUE VELVET – 1986
Image Credit: De Laurentis Group/ Courtesy: Everett Collection. Angelo Badalamenti (at piano) and Isabella Rossellini
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BLUE VELVET – 1986
Image Credit: De Laurentis Group/ Courtesy: Everett Collection. Kyle MacLachlan and Isabella Rossellini
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TWIN PEAKS – 1990-91
Image Credit: ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection Kyle MacLachlan
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TWIN PEAKS – 1990-91
Image Credit: ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection Sheryl Lee (in picture) as Laura Palmer
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TWIN PEAKS – 1990-91
Image Credit: ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection Lara Flynn Boyle, James Marshall, and Sherilyn Fenn
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TWIN PEAKS – 1990-91
Image Credit: ABC /Courtesy Everett Collection Sheryl Lee as Laura Palmer
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TWIN PEAKS – 1990-91
Image Credit: Spelling Entertainment/courtesy Everett Collection Catherine E. Coulson
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WILD AT HEART – 1990
Image Credit: Samuel Goldwyn/courtesy Everett Collection Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern
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WILD AT HEART – 1990
Image Credit: Samuel Goldwyn/courtesy Everett Collection David Lynch on set
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WILD AT HEART – 1990
Image Credit: Samuel Goldwyn/courtesy Everett Collection David Lynch and crew filming Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern, 1999
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WILD AT HEART – 1990
Image Credit: Samuel Goldwyn/courtesy Everett Collection Laura Dern and David Lynch on set
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WILD AT HEART – 1990
Image Credit: Samuel Goldwyn/courtesy Everett Collection Isabella Rossellini
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WILD AT HEART – 1990
Image Credit: Samuel Goldwyn/courtesy Everett Collection Isabella Rossellini and David Lynch on set
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WILD AT HEART – 1990
Image Credit: Samuel Goldwyn Company/courtesy Everett Collection ‘Wild at Heart’ US poster
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TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME – 1992
Image Credit: New Line Cinemas /Courtesy Everett Collection ‘Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me’ US poster
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TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME – 1992
Image Credit: New Line Cinemas /Courtesy Everett Collection Laura Palmer’s harrowing final days are chronicled one year after the murder of Teresa Banks, a resident of Twin Peaks’ neighboring town
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TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME – 1992
Image Credit: New Line Cinemas /Courtesy Everett Collection Sheryl Lee and Kyle MacLachlan
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TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME – 1992
Image Credit: New Line Cinemas /Courtesy Everett Collection David Lynch and Kyle MacLachlan
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LOST HIGHWAY – 1997
Image Credit: October Films/courtesy Everett Collection ‘Lost Highway’ US poster
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LOST HIGHWAY – 1997
Image Credit: October Films/courtesy Everett Collection Anonymous videotapes presage a musician’s murder conviction, and a gangster’s girlfriend leads a mechanic astray
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LOST HIGHWAY – 1997
Image Credit: October Films/courtesy Everett Collection Patricia Arquette and David Lynch on set
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MULHOLLAND DRIVE – 2001
Image Credit: Universal/courtesy Everett Collection ‘Mulholland Drive’ US poster
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MULHOLLAND DRIVE – 2001
Image Credit: Universal/courtesy Everett Collection After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman (Laura Harring) amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful (Naomi Watts) search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
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MULHOLLAND DRIVE, BTS – 2001
Image Credit: Universal/courtesy Everett Collection Director David Lynch and Justin Theroux on set
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INLAND EMPIRE – 2006
Image Credit: Studio Canal/courtesy Everett Collection ‘Inland Empire’ poster art
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INLAND EMPIRE – 2006
Image Credit: Studio Canal/courtesy Everett Collection As an actress begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world becomes nightmarish and surreal.
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INLAND EMPIRE – 2006
Image Credit: Studio Canal/courtesy Everett Collection Laura Dern, Jordan Ladd, Kristen Kerr, Terryn Westbrook, Michelle Renea, Kat Turner,and Emily Stofle
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INLAND EMPIRE – 2006
Image Credit: Studio Canal/courtesy Everett Collection Jeremy Irons, director David Lynch, Harry Dean Stanton, and Laura Dern on set
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TWIN PEAKS – 2017
Image Credit: Showtime Network ‘Twin Peaks’ TV series poster
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TWIN PEAKS – 2017
Image Credit: Showtime Network Kyle MacLachlan and Sheryl Lee
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TWIN PEAKS – 2017
Image Credit: Showtime Network Naomi Watts and Kyle MacLachlan
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TWIN PEAKS – 2017
Image Credit: Showtime Network David Lynch
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TWIN PEAKS – 2017
Image Credit: Showtime Network Laura Dern
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TWIN PEAKS – 2017
Image Credit: Showtime Network David Duchovny
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TWIN PEAKS – 2017
Image Credit: Showtime Network Kimmy Robertson and Michael Horse