Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese has said it is a “sad day for moviemakers, movie lovers, and for the art of cinema” following the death of “visionary” director David Lynch.
The US filmmaker, whose work included surrealist TV series Twin Peaks and films such as The Elephant Man, Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet, died at the age of 78.
It came five months after Lynch revealed he had been diagnosed with emphysema, a chronic lung disease, after “many years of smoking”.
“I hear and read the word ‘visionary’ a lot these days — it’s become a kind of catch – all description, another piece of promotional language,” he said in a statement given to the PA news agency.
“But David Lynch really was a visionary — in fact, the word could have been invented to describe the man and the films, the series, the images and the sounds he left behind.”
Scorsese said Lynch made “everything strange, uncanny, revelatory and new” which were “right on the edge of falling apart but somehow never did”.
“He put images on the screen unlike anything that I or anybody else had ever seen… And he was absolutely uncompromising, from start to finish.
“It’s a sad, sad day for moviemakers, movie lovers, and for the art of cinema.
“…We were lucky to have had David Lynch,” he added.
Other stars paying tribute were Italian-born star Isabella Rossellini, British actress Naomi Watts, Sir Ringo Starr, Wolverine star Hugh Jackman, The Police singer Sting, Oscar winner Nicholas Cage, and actors from Twin Peaks.
Lynch gave former partner and collaborator Rossellini her breakthrough role in neo-noir mystery thriller Blue Velvet before the pair worked together on Wild At Heart.
“I loved him so much,” the actress, who was Bafta-nominated for her supporting role in Conclave earlier this week, said.
Watts said that Lynch “put me on the map” with her 2001 break-out film Mulholland Drive, about the dark side of Hollywood, which earned him the award for best director at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival alongside an Oscar nod.
“It wasn’t just his art that impacted me – his wisdom, humour, and love gave me a special sense of belief in myself I’d never accessed before,” she added.
Watts said Lynch “seemed to live in an altered world, one that I feel beyond lucky to have been a small part of” as she revealed she was “in pieces” over his death.
Two-time Oscar nominee Watts also featured in Lynch’s film Inland Empire as Suzie Rabbit, a role she played in his 2002 project Rabbits, as well as the revival of his hit series Twin Peaks, starring as Janey-E Jones in 2017.
Her Inland Empire and Mulholland Drive co-star Justin Theroux said on Instagram: “David was kind. David was laughter. David was loving. I love you David.”
Sting, who starred in Lynch’s Dune as the red-haired cruel antagonist Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, wrote: “David was a modern giant of the avant garde. I am so proud to have worked with him on the first Dune movie.”
Mystery movie Blue Velvet launched Lynch into the mainstream but prompted controversy with its violent and sexual content, despite securing him an Oscar nomination for best director.
Lynch returned to develop and write Twin Peaks: The Return, released in 2017, as MacLachlan came back to the role.
MacLachlan said he “owed” his “entire career, and life really, to his vision” after Lynch originally cast him in 1984 sci-fi film Dune based on the Frank Herbert novel, before starring in Lynch’s 1986 film Blue Velvet.
Lara Flynn Boyle, who played Donna Hayward in the early 1990s series, said “there goes the true Willy Wonka of filmmaking” in a statement.
“I feel like I got the golden ticket getting a chance to work with him. He will be greatly missed,” she added.
“I never had more fun on a film set than working with David Lynch. He will always be solid gold,” he also said.
Lynch was known for the dreamlike, surreal quality of his work, epitomised in 1980 film The Elephant Man – which secured Lynch Oscar nods for best director and best writing, and was loosely based on the life of Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man who lived in London in the late 19th century.
We are saddened to hear that Legendary Film Director David Lynch has died. The master filmmaker of award-winning films including Mulholland Drive and The Elephant Man which shot at Shepperton Studios, and genre-defying TV series, Twin Peaks. Our thoughts are with his loved ones. pic.twitter.com/UBylKW5klA
— Pinewood Studios (@PinewoodStudios) January 17, 2025
Following three Oscar nominations, the Academy presented Lynch with the honorary award in 2019 for “fearlessly breaking boundaries in pursuit of his singular cinematic vision”.
Born in Missoula, Montana, Lynch began a career in painting before switching to making short films during the 1960s.
He was also known for the 1970s feature-length film, Eraserhead, a black and white, surrealist body horror which follows Henry Spencer as he navigates a strange and gloomy industrial landscape filled with characters such as The Lady In The Radiator.
He also directed 1997’s Lost Highway, and 1999’s The Straight Story, and made a foray into music, releasing three of his own studio albums, working with Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O and Swedish singer Lykke Li.
Lynch’s family said “there’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us” as they confirmed his death, which came just days before his 79th birthday on January 20, on Facebook.
