Master of surrealist cinema, David Lynch left behind his legacy to remember him by, at the age of 78. Battling emphysema, a chronic lung disease since August 2024, the filmmaker breathed his last on the eve of January 16. Lynch’s death was then announced on his official Facebook page by his family.
Meanwhile, as the world is paying tribute to the Oscar-nominated legend, known for his iconic creation of Twin Peaks—let’s take a moment to look at a few unknown facts about David Lynch. Moving past his years of service to the entertainment industry, let us check out 10 iconic facts about Lynch, to remember him.
10. David Lynch isn’t fond of cooking in the house
Considering the surrealism in David Lynch’s films it’s only obvious for the director to be equally bizarre in real life, and a part of it extends to his cooking rules. As someone who does all kinds of creative work in his home, Lynch has told Time Magazine about his zero-tolerance policy of cooking in the house.
I don’t allow cooking in my house. The smell. The smell of cooking — when you have drawings or even writings — that smell would go all over my work.
So I eat things that you don’t have to light a fire for. Or else I order a pizza. The speed at which I eat it, it doesn’t smell up the place too bad. The smell doesn’t last too long.
Finding it absolutely unimaginable to cook food indoors, Lynch admitted to hating the stenches from the meals clinging to his papers and paintings.
9. David Lynch turned down Star Wars
After impressing Dino De Laurentiis with his work on The Elephant Man (1980), Lynch scored the opportunity to helm the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s Dune. But then, there was also this other sci-fi movie that he was in the running to helm—George Lucas’ Return of the Jedi.
However, as per SlashFilm, after listening to the plan for Episode VI, Lynch got a headache and politely declined the offer stating his disinterest in sci-fi films, only to later direct the Dune movie in 1984. Perhaps, it was simply Lynch’s disinterest in Star Wars that drove him away from the billion-dollar franchise.
I went to meet George Lucas, who had offered me the third Star Wars to direct, and I’ve never even really liked science fiction. I like elements of it, but it needs to be combined with other genres. And, obviously, Star Wars was totally George’s thing.
According to Lynch’s recollection, it was George Lucas‘ aura and insane pitch for the film that led him to decline the project. Considering how Lucas appeared in a Ferrari with insane security, to meet with Lynch over a silly lunch, the late director was obvious to turn down the offer.
8. The acclaimed filmmaker was a rebel against schools
Never a stellar student, Lynch often found it difficult to use words, which later led him to drop out of educational institutions and even several colleges. Therefore, addressing this difficulty in fitting the mold in his official biography, the filmmaker admitted to rebelling against the status quo—especially the need to go to school.
For me, back then, school was a crime against young people. It destroyed the seeds of liberty. The teachers didn’t encourage knowledge or a positive attitude. The people who interested me didn’t go to school.
Therefore, speaking about his sheer hatred towards educational establishments, Lynch noted, how he believed that schools often killed inspiration and creativity, forcing every kid to fit in the system.
7. The filmmaker had once written a comic strip
Lynch’s surrealism wasn’t just limited to the screen, for the filmmaker had even worked on a comic strip from 1983 to 1992—The Angriest Dog in the World—which featured an angry dog chained to a stake in a yard. Apparently, the dog was so angry he could neither move nor eat or sleep. All he could do was just barely growl.
Each of the four-panel strips was always the same featuring the angry dog in the yard, except for the philosophical word bubbles coming from the owner’s house. Explaining the thought of the idea behind this comic strip, Lynch had noted that the dog’s anger wasn’t even “actual anger anymore. It’s sort of a bitter attitude toward life.”
6. David Lynch was a massive coffee lover
While creativity and surrealism were a part and parcel of David Lynch’s life, coffee and cigarettes were two more intrinsic elements of his persona. If you ever come across images of the director from his film sets, you’ll see him with one or both vices in his hands. Therefore, addressing his habit of drinking coffee, Lynch told Vice,
I think I would say ten. It’s true I used to drink twenty. But they were smaller and in Styrofoam cups. Now I drink them in bigger cups.
I really enjoy them…I just keep drinking. My trick though is to stop drinking them around 5:30 at night. [I love] Cappuccinos, mostly, but I like lattes, too. I just got two new espresso machines that are really incredible.
One can only imagine what this insane level of caffeine and nicotine consumption did to his health. Eventually, the filmmaker was diagnosed with emphysema, a chronic lung disease, from “many years of smoking” in August 2024 (via BBC). It is assumed that emphysema was the reason behind his tragic demise at 78.
5. The late filmmaker was an Eagle Scout
Apart from his penchant for filmmaking and coffee, Lynch was also a member of the Boy Scouts of America and even became an Eagle Scout, the highest rank within the organization. And it was this affiliation that helped him attend the White House for John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration, on his 15th birthday.
According to his interview with Scouting Magazine, the filmmaker reflected on how he was allowed to stand in line and witness the limousine carrying John F. Kennedy and Dwight D. Eisenhower, followed by another one carrying Richard Nixon and Lyndon B. Johnson. Lynch called it a “great experience” to see “four consecutive presidents in that short amount of time”.
4. The late legend was a trained painter
Although David Lynch is often known for his films, the late legend was also a trained painter. Having attended both the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Lynch claimed to find interest in filmmaking as he wished to see his paintings move.
Therefore, according to reports from Noma.org, the characters that appeared in his first breakout film, Eraserhead (1977), were actually drawn from his never-finished 1971 art school project Gardenback. Soon, although Lynch ventured into the art of filmmaking, he continued his passion for painting. The director’s art is known for its dark tones because he found colors “limiting”.
3. David Lynch practically lived on the Eraserhead set
Since we addressed his first breakout film, Eraserhead, not many people know that he began working on the 1977 movie when he was a student at the American Film Institute in California in the early 70s. According to WhatCulture, it took him five years of his life to complete the project and during that time he practically lived on the set.
From sleeping in Henry’s (played by Jack Nance) bedroom to spending nights in the Greystone Stables, Lynch had spent a significant time on set which was in the troubled neighborhood of Philadelphia.
2. The acclaimed director used to report the weather
Shocking as it is, David Lynch is said to have spent many years, unofficially reporting on the weather. For the subscribers on his website in the mid-to late-2000s, the director used to share occasional weather reports he recorded from his home.
One such video has resurfaced in recent years on YouTube, featuring Lynch speaking about the “muted golden sunshine” or the “sub-white clouds” surrounding LA in 2009. It’s a shame he stopped reporting on the weather and moved on to other passions.
1. David Lynch called Mad Men stars by their character names
Reaching the end of our list, we’re glad to tell you that David Lynch was a fan of Mad Men, much like several of us. But unlike any normal human being, when the filmmaker got an opportunity to meet Elisabeth Moss and Jon Hamm at a party, he spent the entire conversation referring to them by their character’s names.
Calling the two actors Peggy Olsen and Don Draper, Lynch seemingly refused to acknowledge Moss and Hamm as separate entities (via Vulture). Eventually, the conversation went to such an extent that the filmmaker even asked the stars how the other characters were.