On This Day

Birthday of David Lynch

January 20th 1946

06:17 20 January 2025

American filmmaker, painter, visual artist, musician, and writer David Lynch was born on this day in 1946. Lynch made his feature film directorial debut with the nightmarish and surreal 'Eraserhead' (1977) which quickly became a cult classic and led to Mel Brooks asking him to direct 'The Elephant Man' (1980) which was both a critical and commercial success and went on to earn eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.

His next film 'Dune' (1984), an adaptation of Frank Herbert's science fiction novel, fared less well, performing poorly at the box office and receiving mostly negative reviews although it has since gone on to develop a cult following. The director was back on track with 'Blue Velvet' (1986) which received glowing reviews and earned Lynch his second Best Director Academy Award nomination as well as introducing him to the mainstream because of the controversy it caused with audiences and critics.

Lynch went on to direct the movies 'Wild at Heart' (1990), 'Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me' (1992), 'Lost Highway' (1997), 'The Straight Story' (1999) 'Mulholland Drive' (2001) and 'Inland Empire' (2006) as well as co-creating the landmark television series 'Twin Peaks (1990-1991, 2017). One of the most visionary and original film directors of all time, David Lynch passed away at his daughter's home on January 15th less than a week before his 79th birthday.