Filmmaker David Lynch, a true visionary known best for helming Mulholland Drive, Twin Peaks, and Dune, has died aged 78. Last year, the writer and director revealed he'd been diagnosed with emphysema after a lifetime of smoking.
Lynch said at the time he was unsure about directing again due to being unable to leave his home. On Facebook, his family wrote, "It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch. We would appreciate some privacy at this time"
"There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us," the statement continued. "But, as he would say, 'Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.' It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way."
Lynch, who had an eye for the unusual and extraordinary, made his feature debut with Eraserhead before taking charge of The Elephant Man, a movie which earned eight Academy Award nominations. While his adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune was a box office flop in 1984, it's since become regarded as a cult classic.
He bounced back with Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart before turning television on its head with Twin Peaks. The series became a beloved classic and, much to the delight of fans, returned 25 years later with a limited series picking up where season 2 had ended.
Later in Lynch's career, he worked on the likes of Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, and The Straight Story. His final movie was 2006's Inland Empire, though he released several short films in 2020.
Talking last November about his eventual death, Lynch said, "The physical body drops off, but we’ll all know each other again. Enlightenment is stepping off the wheel of birth and death into immortality, total fulfilment, total liberation."
"I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long, and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not. I can’t go out. And I can only walk a short distance before I’m out of oxygen," he continued. "Smoking was something that I absolutely loved but, in the end, it bit me."
"And now, because of Covid, it would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold. So I probably would be directing from my house...they’ve now invented ways where you can direct from home. I wouldn’t like that so much. I like to be there amongst the thing and get ideas there. But I would try to do it remotely, if it comes to it," he added, thinking of ways to do what he loved to the very end.
Our thoughts go out to Lynch's family at this time. RIP.