Legendary filmmaker David Lynch, known for queer classics such as Twin Peaks, Blue Velvet, and Mulholland Drive, has reportedly died at age 78.
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Lynch's death was announced on the director's official Facebook page with a statement attributed to his family, which read:
"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. 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 revealed in the September 2024 issue of Sight and Sound that he had been diagnosed with emphysema after smoking for most of his life. "So, I'm homebound, whether I like it or not," he told the publication then. "I can't go out. And I can only walk a short distance before I'm out of oxygen."
Lynch went on, "Smoking was something that I absolutely loved, but in the end, it bit me. It was part of the art life for me: the tobacco and the smell of it, and lighting things and smoking and going back and sitting back and having a smoke and looking at your work, or thinking about things; nothing like it in this world is so beautiful. Meanwhile, it's killing me, so I had to quit."
Throughout his career, Lynch earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Director for his work in 2001's Mulholland Drive, which was featured on Out's list of 25 best queer movies of the century (so far) for its LGBTQ+ themes, including "some of the steamiest queer female sexual tension in film history" between the characters Betty/Diane (Naomi Watts) and Camilla/Rita (Laura Harring).
Mulholland Drive.
Universal PicturesOther noteworthy works by Lynch include the homoerotic film Blue Velvet (1986) and the 1984 live-action adaptation of Frank Herbert's sci-fi novel, Dune, which Denis Villeneuve has since rebooted through 2021's Dune and 2023's Dune: Part Two.
Queer fans also know Lynch as a cocreator of the 1990 series Twin Peaks, and his involvement in the 2017 reboot Twin Peaks: The Return for Showtime. Both iterations featured a notable trans character, Denise Bryson, as a DEA agent played by actor David Duchovny.
