David Keith Lynch was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Often called a "visionary" and acclaimed for films distinguished by his surrealist and experimental qualities, Lynch is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. In a career spanning more than five decades, he received numerous accolades, including the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Film Festival in 2006 and an Academy Honorary Award in 2019.
Lynch studied painting and made short films before making his first feature, the independent body horror film Eraserhead, which found success as a midnight movie. He earned critical acclaim and nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director for the biographical drama The Elephant Man and the neo-noir mystery art films Blue Velvet and Mulholland Drive. For his romantic crime drama Wild at Heart, he received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. He also directed the space opera Dune, the neo-noir Lost Highway, the road movie The Straight Story, and the experimental psychological thriller Inland Empire.