REST IN PEAKS
Visionary David Lynch broke into Hollywood with help of famous comedian before directing controversial art films
Lynch was Oscar nominated but also directed an infamous big budget flop
MAVERICK film maker David Lynch was last night described as the “master of cinema” after his death from a smoking-related disease.
The US director, who was 78, died after being diagnosed with the lung condition emphysema and most recently relied on an oxygen machine to get around due to breathing difficulties.
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His family announced on Facebook: “There’s a big hole in the world, now that he is no longer with us.
“But, as he would say, keep your eye on the donut and not the hole.”
‘I can hardly walk’
Lynch was behind cult movies such as the 1984 version of Dune, Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive as well as bizarre Nineties TV series Twin Peaks.
He also directed The Elephant Man in 1980, a masterpiece film loosely based on the story of Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man who was rescued from a freak show.
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Lynch told last August how he had been diagnosed with emphysema and later said: “I can hardly walk across a room.
“It’s like you’re walking around with a plastic bag around your head.”
The Academy Award winner told how he started smoking aged eight and tried to quit “many, many times”.
He added: “But when it got tough, I’d have the first cigarette and it was a one-way trip to heaven.”
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Lynch, born in Montana, moved to Los Angeles in 1971 and studied film-making.
His first feature was Eraserhead in 1977, a surreal black and white horror movie.
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It led to an invitation from Mel Brooks’s production company to direct The Elephant Man, starring John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins.
Lynch said: “That kind of put me on the map — it was a big success. I did it because when I heard the name — The Elephant Man — a bomb went off in my head.”
He also agreed to make the early movie version of Dune, but it proved a flop. In 1986, he made his dark noir thriller Blue Velvet, which was described as “terrifying, seductive and ahead of its time.”
His most recent project was a cameo in Steven Spielberg film The Fabelmans.
Fans last night mourned his passing on X/Twitter.
One wrote: “No one saw the world like David Lynch. The world lost a master of cinema today.”
Another mourned “RIP to the legend. Twin Peaks was like nothing else!”
A third added: “Such a terrible loss, man. One hell of a storyteller and artist.”
In 2019 Lynch told The Times how Twin Peaks inspired today’s shows on streaming TV.
He said: “Television was a joke when we made that show. It was, I guess, different. We started something. Then, when cable TV came along — well, that’s the new art house.”
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He described how he enjoyed his later years spent at home repairing toys and painting, saying: “My main activity is building small lamps. I like to repair children’s toys and I’ve been working on a small music box.”
Lynch was married four times and had a relationship with his Blue Velvet star Isabella Rossellini.
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