'Mulholland Drive' and 'Twin Peaks' director David Lynch dies at 78

'Mulholland Drive' and 'Twin Peaks' director David Lynch dies at 78

David Lynch was the creative genius behind 'Mulholland Drive' and 'Twin Peaks'

David Lynch -- the singular and surreal director of "Mulholland Drive" and television's "Twin Peaks," who depicted the darkness lurking beneath the wholesome surface of American life -- has died. He was 78 years old.

An enigmatic artist who turned his hand to arthouse and blockbuster film, television, painting and music, Lynch was considered one of US cinema's great auteurs.

"It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch," read a statement on his official Facebook page.

The cause and location of death were not specified. Lynch, who lived in Los Angeles, had suffered from emphysema after years of heavy smoking.

He emerged on the US indie scene with his creepy 1977 horror "Eraserhead," and drew both acclaim and a cult following with sadomasochist mystery "Blue Velvet" (1986) and surreal thriller "Mulholland Drive" (2001).

But he may be best remembered for his mesmerizing 1990s series "Twin Peaks," which paved the way for many a prestige television drama.

With four Oscar nominations, including a trio of best director nods, the filmmaker recognizable by his shock of white hair took home just one honorary statuette, in 2019.

- 'Fearless' -

Tributes from across Hollywood swiftly poured in.

Steven Spielberg called Lynch "a singular, visionary dreamer who directed films that felt handmade," while Francis Ford Coppola said he was "astounded and heartbroken" by the "profound loss of the great David Lynch."

Fellow director Ron Howard hailed "a gracious man and fearless artist" who "proved that radical experimentation could yield unforgettable cinema."

Kyle MacLachlan, who starred in "Twin Peaks" and several Lynch films, called Lynch "an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him."

"I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision," he wrote on Instagram.

Born in small-town Montana in 1946, the son of an agricultural research scientist, Lynch travelled extensively around Middle America as a young man.

He attended fine arts colleges in Boston and Philadelphia before joining the American Film Institute, where he began work on "Eraserhead."

That was followed by 1980's "The Elephant Man," also shot in black-and-white and deeply tragic, but decidedly more mainstream and accessible, earning his first best director Oscar nomination.

Based on the diary of Joseph Merrick, the so-called "Elephant Man" born in the United States in 1862 with a condition that gave him a severely deformed physical appearance, it starred Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt.

An attempt to adapt sci-fi novel "Dune" in 1984 would be one of Lynch's less well-received efforts, though it still has its admirers.

Lynch pivoted back to his arthouse roots with "Blue Velvet," about a young man whose discovery of a severed ear leads him to the sinister side of his small town.

It starred Isabella Rossellini -- whom Lynch dated for several years -- and is often heralded as his greatest work, earning a second Academy Award nomination for directing. 

After winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes with "Wild at Heart" in 1990, Lynch turned to television with "Twin Peaks," which captivated and shocked Americans from its 1990 launch.

The tale of a tight-knit northwestern town reacting to the rape and murder of a popular but troubled high school girl, it was years ahead of its time.

But ratings plummeted as the show's second season lost direction after the purported meddling of ABC executives, and it was cancelled. An even darker 1992 prequel film was initially panned, but is now considered a classic.

- 'Big hole' -

In 2001, Lynch made his second undisputed masterpiece, "Mulholland Drive," which brought a third best director Oscar nomination.

Naomi Watts plays a naive actress who meets a mysterious brunette suffering amnesia, before everything gets inverted in an astonishing twist that has fans arguing over its meaning to this day.

Film writer David Thomson called it "one of the greatest films ever made about the cultural devastation caused by Hollywood."

Lynch's final full-length feature film was 2006's inscrutable "Inland Empire," although he returned to the world of "Twin Peaks" with an acclaimed sequel series for cable network Showtime in 2017.

He never retired, continuing to produce short films, music and paintings, and practice his beloved daily transcendental meditation, from his studio and home -- appropriately located just outside Hollywood, on Mulholland Drive.

He regularly posted whimsical weather updates to YouTube, underlining the optimistic and playful man behind his often troubling art.

"There's a big hole in the world now that he's no longer with us," said his family's statement.

"But, as he would say, 'Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.'"

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Originally published as 'Mulholland Drive' and 'Twin Peaks' director David Lynch dies at 78