David Lynch

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January 20, 1946

David Keith Lynch

Emily Stofle (February 26, 2009 - present)

Mary Sweeney (10 May 10, 2006 - 12 February 2007) (divorced) 1 child

Mary Fisk (June 21. 1977 - 29 August 1987) (divorced) 1 child

Peggy Lynch (1967 - 1974) (divorced) (1 child)

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Producer

I Touch a Red Button (short) (producer) (2011)

King Shot (executive producer) (2010)

Change Begins Within (executive producer) (2009)

My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done (2009) (executive producer)

"Interview Project" TV series (producer) (2009)

Surveillance (executive producer) (2008)

Dynamic:01: The Best of DavidLynch.com (executive producer) (2007)

Inland Empire (producer, writer, director) (2006)

Darkened Room (executive producer, writer, director) (2002)

DumbLand (producer, writer, director, actor) (2002)

Nadja (executive producer, actor) (1994)

Crumb (producer) (1994)

"Hotel Room" (executive producer, writer, director) (3 episodes, 1993)

Hugh Hefner: Once Upon a Time (executive producer) (1992)

"On the Air" (producer) (5 episodes, 1992) (executive producer, writer, director) (2 episodes, 1992)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (executive producer, writer, director, actor) (1992)

"Twin Peaks" (executive producer, writer, director, actor) (30 episodes, 1990-1991)

The Cabinet of Dr. Ramirez (executive producer) (1991)

"American Chronicles" TV series (producer, director) (1990)

Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted (TV) (producer, director) (1990)

Eraserhead (producer, writer) (1977)

The Amputee (producer, writer, director, actor) (1974)

The Grandmother (producer, writer, director) (1970)

Six Figures Getting Sick (producer, director) (1966)

Writer

The 3 Rs (short) (2011)

Lady Blue Shanghai (short story) (2010)

More Things That Happened (writer, director) (2007)

Boat (writer, director) (2007)

The Short Films of David Lynch (2002) (writer, director)

Rabbits (writer, director) (2002)

Does That Hurt You? (writer) (2002)

Mulholland Dr. (writer, director) (2001)

Lost Highway (writer, director, actor) (1997)

Wild at Heart (screenplay, director) (1990)

"Les français vus par" (director) (1 episode, 1988)

Blue Velvet (screenplay, director) (1986)

Dune (screenplay, director, actor) (1984)

The Elephant Man (1980) (screenplay, director)

The Alphabet (1968) (writer, director)

Director

Crazy Clown Time (video short) (2012)

The 3 Rs (short) (2011)

Duran Duran: Unstaged (video documentary) (2011)

I Touch a Red Button (short) (2011)

Lady Blue Shanghai (short) (2010)

42 One Dream Rush (short) (2009)

More Things That Happened (video) (2007)

To Each His Own Cinema (segment "Absurda" / special edition) (2007)

Dynamic:01: The Best of DavidLynch.com (video short) (2007)

Boat (video short) (2007)

Inland Empire (2006)

The Short Films of David Lynch (video documentary) (2002)

Darkened Room (short) (2002)

DumbLand (TV mini-series) (2002)

Rabbits (2002)

Eraserhead Stories (video documentary) (2001)

Mulholland Dr. (2001)

The Straight Story (1999)

Mulholland Dr. (TV movie) (1999)

Lost Highway (1997)

Lumière and Company (documentary) (segment "Premonition Following An Evil Deed") (1995)

Hotel Room (TV mini-series) (2 episodes, 1993)

The King of Ads (documentary) (1993)

On the Air (TV mini-series) (1 episode, 1992)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)

Twin Peaks (TV series) (6 episodes, 1990-1991)

American Chronicles (TV series documentary) (1990)

Wild at Heart (1990)

Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted (TV movie) (1990)

Les Français vus par (TV mini-series documentary) (1 episode, 1988)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Dune (1984)

The Elephant Man (1980)

Eraserhead (1977)

The Amputee (short) (1974)

The Grandmother (short) (1970)

The Alphabet (short) (1968)

Six Figures Getting Sick (short) (1966)

Actor

The Cleveland Show (TV series) (16 episodes, 2010-2012)

Family Guy (TV series) (voice) (1 episode, 2010)

Peixe Vermelho (short) (2009)

David Lynch: A BAFTA Interview (TV movie) (2007)

Inland Empire (voice) (uncredited) (2006)

DumbLand (TV mini-series) (all voices) (2002)

Lost Highway (scenes deleted) (1997)

Nadja (1994)

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)

Twin Peaks (TV series) (6 episodes, 1990-1991)

FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole
Zelly and Me (1988)

Dune (uncredited) (1984)

Heart Beat (uncredited) (1980)

The Amputee (short) (1974)

Appearances

Beyond the Noise: My Transcendental Meditation Journey (documentary) (2012)

Side by Side (documentary) (2012)

Rooted in Peace (documentary) (2012)

America in Primetime (TV series documentary) (2 episodes, 2011)

Duran Duran: Unstaged (video documentary) (uncredited) (2011)

Lynch Three (documentary) (2011)

David Lynch Visits Oslo on the 50th Anniversary of Maharishi First Coming to Norway (documentary short) (2010)

Gomorron (TV series) (1 episode, 2010)

Last Call with Carson Daly (TV series) (1 episode, 2010)

David Wants to Fly (documentary) (2009)

2012: Time for Change (2010)

Serotonin Rising (2009)

Great Directors (2009)

La traversée du désir (2009)

The Soul Detective (2009)

Il était une fois... Sailor et Lula (2009) (TV)

The Big O in Britain (2008) (TV)

The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (1 episode, 2008)

School of Thought (2008)

Il était une fois... Mon oncle (2008) (TV)

Le son de Lynch (2007) (TV)

A Slice of Lynch (2007)

Elvis: Viva Las Vegas (2007) (TV)

Lynch (2007)

"Tracks" (1 episode, 2007)

"Breakfast with the Arts" (1 episode, 2007)

"The Culture Show" (1 episode, 2007)

Film Independent's 2007 Spirit Awards (2007) (TV)

Boat (2007)

Dynamic:01: The Best of DavidLynch.com (2007)

"Up Close with Carrie Keagan" (1 episode, 2007)

Midnight Movies: From the Margin to the Mainstream (2005)

Love, Death, Elvis & Oz: The Making of 'Wild at Heart' (2004)

Mulholland Drive: Making of (2004)

Épreuves d'artistes (2004)

"The Directors" (1 episode, 2003)

Dennis Hopper: Create (or Die) (2003)

The Short Films of David Lynch (2002) (Narrator)

I Don't Know Jack (2002)

The 74th Annual Academy Awards (2002) (TV)

"+ de cinéma" (1 episode, 2002)

"The Screen Savers" (1 episode, 2002)

Celluloid Dreams (2002)

Dennis Hopper: The Decisive Moments (2002) (TV)

Does That Hurt You? (2002)

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2 episodes, 1992-2001)

Dino De Laurentiis: The Last Movie Mogul (2001) (TV)

"Intimate Portrait" (1 episode, 1999)

In Dreams: The Roy Orbison Story (1999) (TV)

Wie man die Leute von ihrem Geld trennt (1998) (TV)

Pretty as a Picture: The Art of David Lynch (1997) (TV)

"Scene by Scene" (1996) TV series

Lumière et compagnie (1995)

Der Klang der Bilder (1995) (TV)

Don Van Vliet: Some YoYo Stuff (1994) (TV)

"Late Night with David Letterman" (1 episode, 1991)

Jonathan Ross Presents for One Week Only: David Lynch (1990) (TV)

Twin Peaks/Cop Rock: Behind the Scenes (1990) (TV)

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1 episode, 1990)

Hollywood Mavericks (1990)

"Cinéma, de notre temps" (1 episode, 1989)

No Frank in Lumberton (1988) (TV)

"The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross" (1 episode, 1987)

The 44th Annual Golden Globe Awards (1987) (TV) (uncredited)

The 1987 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (1987) (TV) (uncredited)

The Making of 'Dune' (1984) (TV)

AFI Awards, USA

2002 Nominated AFI Film Award AFI Director of the Year for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

Academy Awards

2002 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

1987 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: Blue Velvet (1986)

1981 Nominated Oscar Best Director for: The Elephant Man (1980)

1981 Nominated Oscar Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium for: The Elephant Man (1980). Shared with: Christopher De Vore & Eric Bergren

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA

2002 Nominated Saturn Award Best Director for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

1993 Nominated Saturn Award Best Writing for: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). Shared with: Robert Engels

1993 Life Career Award

American Film Institute

1991 Franklin J. Schaffner Award

Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival

1987 Won Grand Prize for: Blue Velvet (1986)

1981 Won Grand Prize for: The Elephant Man (1980)

1978 Won Antennae II Award for: Eraserhead (1977)

BAFTA Awards

1981 Nominated BAFTA Film Award Best Direction for: The Elephant Man (1980)

Best Screenplay for: The Elephant Man (1980). Shared with: Christopher De Vore & Eric Bergren

Bodil Awards

2003 Won Bodil Best American Film (Bedste amerikanske film) for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

2000 Won Bodil Best American Film (Bedste amerikanske film) for: The Straight Story (1999)

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

2001 Won BSFC Award Best Director for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

1987 Won BSFC Award Best Director for: Blue Velvet (1986). Tied with Oliver Stone for Platoon (1986)

Camerimage

2003 Order For the Contribution to Polish Culture

2000 Won Special Award Best Duo: Director - Cinematographer
Shared with:Frederick Elmes

2000 Won Film Direction with a Special Visual Sensitivity

Cannes Film Festival

2001 Won Best Director for: Mulholland Dr. (2001). Tied with Joel Coen for The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

2001 Nominated Golden Palm for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

1999 Nominated Golden Palm for: The Straight Story (1999)

1992 Nominated Golden Palm for: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)

1990 Won Golden Palm for: Wild at Heart (1990)

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

2002 Won CFCA Award Best Director for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

2002 Nominated CFCA Award Best Original Score for: Mulholland Dr. (2001). Shared with: Angelo Badalamenti & John Neff

2000 Nominated CFCA Award Best Director for: The Straight Story (1999)

Chlotrudis Awards

2007 Nominated Chlotrudis Award Best Director for: Inland Empire (2006)

2002 Won Audience Award Best Director for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

2002 Won Best Screenplay - Original for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

2002 Chlotrudis Award Best Screenplay - Original for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

César Awards, France

2002 Won César Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger) for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

1982 Won César Best Foreign Film (Meilleur film étranger) for: The Elephant Man (1980)

Directors Guild of America

1981 Nominated DGA Award Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures for: The Elephant Man (1980)

Edgar Allan Poe Awards

2002 Nominated Edgar Best Motion Picture for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

Emmy Awards

1990 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music for: "Twin Peaks" (1990). Shared with: Angelo Badalamenti (composer)

1990 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics for: "Twin Peaks" (1990). Shared with: Angelo Badalamenti (composer) for: "Into the Night" for: episode #005

1990 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for: "Twin Peaks: Pilot (#1.1)" (1990) for: the pilot episode

1990 Nominated Emmy Outstanding Drama Series for: "Twin Peaks" (1990). Shared with: Mark Frost (executive producer); Gregg Fienberg & David J. Latt (producers)

1990 Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series for: "Twin Peaks: Pilot (#1.1)" (1990). Shared with: Mark Frost (writer) for: the pilot episode

European Film Awards

1999 Won Screen International Award for: The Straight Story (1999) USA

Fantasporto

1991 Nominated International Fantasy Film Award Best Film for: Wild at Heart (1990)

1982 Nominated International Fantasy Film Award Best Film for: Eraserhead (1977)

Fotogramas de Plata

2001 Won Fotogramas de Plata Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) for: The Straight Story (1999)

1987 Won Fotogramas de Plata Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) for: Blue Velvet (1986)

French Syndicate of Cinema Critics

1982 Won Critics Award Best Foreign Film for: The Elephant Man (1980) USA

Golden Globe Awards

2002 Nominated Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

2002 Nominated Golden Globe Best Screenplay - Motion Picture for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

1987 Nominated Golden Globe Best Screenplay - Motion Picture for: Blue Velvet (1986)

1981 Nominated Golden Globe Best Director - Motion Picture for: The Elephant Man (1980)

Independent Spirit Awards

2007 Won Special Distinction Award. Shared with: Laura Dern for: their collaborative work

2000 Nominated Independent Spirit Award Best Director for: The Straight Story (1999)

1987 Nominated Independent Spirit Award Best Director for: Blue Velvet (1986)

1987 Nominated Independent Spirit Award Best Screenplay for: Blue Velvet (1986)

Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists

2002 Nominated Silver Ribbon Best Director - Foreign Film (Regista del Miglior Film Straniero) for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards

2000 Nominated Sierra Award Best Director for: The Straight Story (1999)

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

2001 Won LAFCA Award Best Director for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

1986 Won LAFCA Award Best Director for: Blue Velvet (1986)

National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA

1987 Won NSFC Award Best Director for: Blue Velvet (1986)

Online Film Critics Society Awards

2002 Won OFCS Award Best Director for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

2002 Nominated OFCS Award Best Screenplay, Original for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards

2002 Nominated PFCS Award Best Director for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

Robert Festival

2000 Won Robert Best American Film (Årets amerikanske film) for: The Straight Story (1999)

San Diego Film Critics Society Awards

1999 Won SDFCS Award Best Director for: The Straight Story (1999)

Sant Jordi Awards

2003 Won Sant Jordi Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

2001 Won Sant Jordi Best Foreign Film (Mejor Película Extranjera) for: The Straight Story (1999)

Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival

2001 Nominated Best Film for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

1986 Won Caixa de Catalunya Best Film for: Blue Velvet (1986)

Stockholm Film Festival

2003 Lifetime Achievement Award

Toronto Film Critics Association Awards

2001 Won TFCA Award Best Director for: Mulholland Dr. (2001)

Venice Film Festival

2006 Won Future Film Festival Digital Award for: Inland Empire (2006)

2006 Won Career Golden Lion

Writers Guild of America, USA

1987 Nominated WGA Award (Screen) Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for: Blue Velvet (1986)

1981 Nominated WGA Award (Screen) Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium for: The Elephant Man (1980). Shared with: Christopher De Vore * Eric Bergren

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It’s better not to know so much about what things mean.

I like to make films because I like to go into another world. I like to get lost in another world. And film to me is a magical medium that makes you dream...allows you to dream in the dark. It's just a fantastic thing, to get lost inside the world of film.

I would rather not make a film than make one where I don't have final cut.

It's better not to know so much about what things mean or how they might be interpreted or you'll be too afraid to let things keep happening. Psychology destroys the mystery, this kind of magic quality. It can be reduced to certain neuroses or certain things, and since it is now named and defined, it's lost its mystery and the potential for a vast, infinite experience.

I'm not a real film buff. Unfortunately, I don't have time. I just don't go. And I become very nervous when I go to a film because I worry so much about the director and it is hard for me to digest my popcorn.

I'm convinced we all are voyeurs. It's part of the detective thing. We want to know secrets and we want to know what goes on behind those windows. And not in a way that we would use to hurt anyone. There's an entertainment value to it, but at the same time we want to know: What do humans do? Do they do the same things as I do? It's a gaining of some sort of knowledge, I think.

My father was a scientist for the Forest Service. He would drive me through the woods in his green Forest Service truck, over dirt roads, through the most beautiful forests where the trees are very tall and shafts of sunlight come down and in the mountain streams the rainbow trout leap out and their little trout sides catch glimpses of light. Then my father would drop me in the woods and go off. It was a weird, comforting feeling being in the woods. There were odd, mysterious things. That's the kind of world I grew up in.

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David Lynch was born on January 20th, 1946 in Missouri, Montana.

His father was Donald Lynch, a research scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and his mother was Sunny, an English language tutor. The family moved around, with Lynch growing up in the kinds of picturesque small towns that would later feature in his movies.

As an art-school student David Lynch was known to burn the skin off a mouse just to study its innards. In retrospect, the act is a great metaphor for Lynch’s art – probing through the surface of normality by shocking, often sick, methods to discover a festering world underneath. He is that rare artist who has brought avant-garde sensibilities into the mainstream, be it period drama, science fiction or murder mystery. He finds the sinister in wholesome locales and the comedy in perverted human relationships, challenging and antagonizing audiences to peer into his dark world.

After art school he was commissioned to create an art installation, a four-minute clip called 'The Alphabet' (1968), that led to him winning a US $5,000 grant from the American Film Institute. He used the money to make 'The Grandmother' (1979). The film won numerous festival awards.

Using $10,000 from the AFI, Lynch started shooting 'Eraserhead' in 1972 but did not have the funds to finish the production, so he borrowed money from friends, family and industry professionals – and even took a paper round – to complete it. The film that emerged is unlike any other in film history.

Lynch is considered to be a modern renaissance man, showcasing his skewed world view in art installations, furniture design, music projects and a website as well as his movies. Some of his more unusual sidelines include: ‘The Angriest Dog in the World’, a weekly comic strip for the Village Voice, that has unchanging panels of an angry dog chained up in a yard accompanied by various cod-philosophical phrases; Blue Bob, a rock album on which Lynch plays a guitar upside down and backwards; and David Lynch Signature Cup, his own brand of organic coffee that bears the motto ‘It’s all in the beans…and I’m just full of beans’.

Lynch’s landmark television series Twin Peaks was, notionally, about an investigation led by FBI Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) into the death of popular high-school student Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee), but it spun off into illogical story lines with a whole gallery of freakish sideshow characters. When launched on the ABC network the show became a cult favorite, spinning off numerous catchphrases – ‘Damn fine coffee’ – and entering the culture with references in The Simpsons and a ‘Time’ magazine cover. During its second season Lynch clashed with network bosses over their insistence on revealing the identity of Palmer’s killer and the show was canceled in 1991.

He wrote the Gordon Cole character from "Twin Peaks" (1990) with himself in mind.

Personally approved DVD releases of his movies do not have any chapter stops. This is done because he believes that films are meant to be viewed from beginning to end.

His favorite band is Rammstein.

Has cited Luis Buñuel, Werner Herzog, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, and Roman Polanski as some of his influences.

Some of his favorite films of all time are: 8 1/2 (1963), La Strada (1954), Sunset Boulevard (1950), The Apartment (1960), Lolita (1962), Persona (1966), Hour of the Wolf (1968), Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953), My Uncle (1958), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Stroszek (1977) and The Wizard of Oz (1939).

He is an avid coffee drinker and has his own line of special organic blends.

Has practiced Transcendental Meditation for twenty minutes each day since 1973.

He is a Presbyterian.

Must-see Movies

Eraserhead (1976)

Blue Velvet (1886)

Mulholland Drive (2001)

He turned down offers to direct:

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

Hand-Carved Coffins

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Salary

The Alphabet (1968) $1,000 USD

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