RIP: David Lynch
It was announced that David Lynch died today, at the age of 78. Mr. Lynch had announced last year that he had been diagnosed with emphysema.
After graduating high school, David Lynch decided to study painting. He studied at the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design in Washington, D.C., the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. It was at the Pennsylvania Academy where Mr. Lynch made his first short film. The film was well received and led Mr. Lynch to create other shorts.
A grant from the American Film Institute financed Mr. Lynch’s short, The Grandmother. David Lynch then moved to LA to begin studying filmmaking at the AFI Conservatory. While there Mr. Lynch received a $10,000 grant from the AFI to create Eraserhead. David Lynch raised the additional money required to complete filming through a loan from his father and money he saved by delivering The Wall Street Journal. After the success of Eraserhead, Mr. Lynch went on to direct Elephant Man. At that point, Mr. Lynch was well on his way to a long career as a director, writer and producer. In addition to his television and feature film directing, Mr. Lynch as continued to create shorts, music videos, write and occasionally act.
David Lynch was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Director, once for Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium and won an Honorary Academy Award
- 1981 Nominee – Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for The Elephant Man, Shared with: Christopher De Vore · Eric Bergren
- 1981 Nominee – Best Director for The Elephant Man
- 1987 Nominee – Best Director for Blue Velvet
- 2002 Nominee – Best Director for Mulholland Drive
Television projects that feature David Lynch include: Twin Peaks (6 episodes); On the Air; Hotel Room (2 episodes) and Muholland Drive (2001).
Feature films that David Lynch directed in include: Eraserhead; The Elephant Man; Dune; Blue Velvet; Twin Peaks; Wild at Heart; Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me; Lost Highway; The Straight Story; Mulholland Drive (1999) and Twin Peaks: The Missing Pieces.
I first heard of David Lynch with his movie Eraserhead. My favorite David Lynch film is The Elephant Man.
Out thoughts and prayers go out to David Lynch’s family, friends and fans.