David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, painter, television director, visual artist, musician, and occasional actor. Known for his

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...

films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style which has been dubbed "Lynchian" and is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous

sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating sound tracks for a variety of needs. It involves specifying, acquiring or creating auditory elements using audio production techniques and tools. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including ...

. The surreal and, in many cases, violent elements to his films have earned them the reputation that they "disturb, offend or mystify" their audiences. Lynch's oeuvre includes short and feature-length films, music videos, documentaries and television episodes, while his involvement in these ranges from direction, production, and screenwriting to acting and sound design. Lynch's first project was the 1967 short ''

Six Men Getting Sick (Six Times) ''Six Men Getting Sick (Six Times)'' (sometimes known as ''Six Figures Getting Sick'') is a 1967 Experimental film, experimental Animation, animated short film, directed by David Lynch. A student project that was developed over the course of ...

'', an animated film which blended elements of sculpture and painting into its animation. His first feature-length project, 1977's ''

Eraserhead ''Eraserhead'' is a 1977 American surrealist film, surrealist horror film written, directed, produced, and edited by David Lynch. Lynch also created its Eraserhead (soundtrack), score and sound design, which included pieces by a variety of oth ...

'', became a cult film and launched his commercial career. It also marked his first collaboration with

Jack Nance Marvin John Nance (December 21, 1943 – December 30, 1996), known professionally as Jack Nance, was an American actor. A longtime collaborator of filmmaker David Lynch, Nance portrayed the lead in Lynch's directorial film debut ''Eraserhead'' (1 ...

, an actor who would appear in many more of Lynch's productions until his death in 1996. Lynch's other feature films include the critically successful ''

The Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then we ...

'' (1980), '' Blue Velvet'' (1986) and ''

Mulholland Drive Mulholland Drive is a street and road in the eastern Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California. It is named after pioneering Los Angeles civil engineer William Mulholland. The western rural portion in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties is nam ...

'' (2001), all of which went on to earn Academy Award nominations, and the commercial flop ''Dune (1984 film), Dune''. Lynch has also branched out into television, and later, internet-based series. His first foray into the medium was ''Twin Peaks'', a joint venture with Mark Frost. ''Twin Peaks'' became a cult success, leading to Lynch and Frost working together on a number of other projects, including ''On the Air (TV series), On the Air'' and ''American Chronicles''. In 2002 Lynch began producing two series of shorts released through his official website: the Adobe Flash, Flash-animated ''DumbLand'' and ''Rabbits (film), Rabbits''. Having begun acting in his 1972 short ''The Amputee'', Lynch went on to appear on-camera in ''Twin Peaks'', ''Zelly and Me'', and ''Dune''. From 2010 to 2013, Lynch appeared in a recurring voice role in the animated series ''The Cleveland Show''.

Feature films

Short films

Television series

Web series

Music videos

Commercials

Concert films

Other works

Acting roles

Film

Short films

Television

Documentary films

Executive producer

References

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, David David Lynch, Filmography Director filmographies Male actor filmographies American filmographies