David Lynch

Vocation

Lifestyle

Notable

Traits

Family

American director and screenwriter, one of the most talented and imaginative contemporary film makers of the 20th century. His work includes "Eraserhead," "The Elephant Man," "Blue Velvet" and "Twin Peaks." The son of a research scientist for the Department of Agriculture, he moved often around the Northwest while growing up, being raised in Washington, Idaho, and finally Virginia where he went to high school. Aiming to become a painter, he trained at various art schools. Entering the job market, he found a train of jobs that did not satisfy him, and had married and had a child before deciding to go back to school. He lived in a ghetto and crime infested location in order to put his funds into schooling, until he was given a good fiscal commission for an avant-garde art piece. His first film, as odd and weird as all his work, about an abused, bed-wetting boy who grew a kindly grandmother from a seed, won several awards and helped Lynch win a fellowship in the AFI's Center for Advanced Film Studies in Beverly Hills, 1970. He began filming "Eraserhead" in 1972, filming at night as he eked a bare living from delivering newspapers. It was a slow, strained period as his funding dried up and his marriage folded. The film was not completed until 1976 and distributed the following year. The film was a surrealistic nightmare that never gained popularity outside of it's cult status. "The Elephant Man," 1980, won critical acclaim and was nominated for eight Oscars. It was followed by a failure, "Dune," in 1984. "Blue Velvet" was an outstanding portrayal of bizarre and kinky sex along with erotic mystery, called by some "the sickest film ever made." With advertising like that, it became a box-office smash. In 1990, Lynch won the Golden Palm at Cannes for "Wild At Heart," a wickedly comic fairy tale. At the same time, he was developing a TV series such as had never been seen, "Twin Peaks." Lynch's career continued to expand in unconventional display. A serious photographer and artist, he has exhibited his soft, moody, semi-abstract canvases. A highly disciplined artist, he has been painting seriously from youth, loosely figurative, monochromatic works grounded in Abstract Expressionism. He also writes lyrics, produces records and draws a syndicated cartoon. His first marriage, in 1967, produced daughter Jennifer who directed her first film, "Boxing Helena," from a script perverted enough to make her father proud. In 1977, Lynch married Mary Fisk; they had one son in 1982 but later divorced. He was romantically linked with Isabella Rossellini while filming "Blue Velvet" and they separated after five years, 12/17/1990. Link to Wikipedia biography