David Lynch

He is an American filmmaker and visual artist. Over a lengthy career, Lynch has employed a distinctive, unorthodox (and now known as "Lynchian") approach to narrative filmmaking that has become instantly recognizable to many audiences and critics worldwide. Lynch's films are known for nightmarish and dreamlike images and meticulous sound design. Lynch's work often depicts a seedy underside to small-town America (particularly Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks) or sprawling California metropolises (Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, and his latest release, Inland Empire). Beginning with his experimental film-school feature Eraserhead (1977), he has maintained a strong cult following despite inconsistent commercial success.

Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, for his films The Elephant Man (1980), Blue Velvet (1986), and Mulholland Drive (2001), and also received a screenplay Academy Award nomination for The Elephant Man. Lynch has twice won France's César Award for Best Foreign Film, as well as the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and a Golden Lion award for lifetime achievement at the Venice Film Festival. The French government awarded him the Legion of Honor, the country's top civilian honor, as a Chevalier in 2002 and then an Officier in 2007, while that same year, The Guardian described Lynch as "the most important director of this era".

Early life:

Lynch was born in Missoula, Montana on January 20, 1946. His father, Donald Walton Lynch, was a U.S. Department of Agriculture research scientist, and his mother, Edwina "Sunny" Lynch (née Sundholm), was an English language tutor. His maternal grandfather's parents immigrated to the United States from Finland in the 19th century. Lynch was raised a Presbyterian and spent his childhood throughout the Pacific Northwest and Durham, North Carolina. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout and, on his 15th birthday, served as an usher at John F. Kennedy's Presidential Inauguration.

Intending to become an artist, Lynch attended classes at Corcoran School of Art in Washington, D.C. while finishing high school at Francis C. Hammond High School (now Francis C. Hammond Middle School) in Alexandria, Virginia in 1964. He enrolled in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for one year (where he was a roommate of Peter Wolf) before leaving for Europe with his friend and fellow artist Jack Fisk, planning to study with Austrian expressionist painter Oskar Kokoschka. Although he had planned to stay for three years, Lynch returned to the U.S. after only 15 days.

Personal life:

Lynch has had several long-term relationships. In 1967, he married Peggy Lentz in Chicago, Illinois. They had one child, Jennifer Chambers Lynch, born in 1968, who is a film director. They filed for divorce in 1974. On June 21, 1977, Lynch married Mary Fisk, and the couple had one child, Austin Jack Lynch, born in 1982. They divorced in 1987, and Lynch began dating Isabella Rossellini after filming Blue Velvet. Lynch and Rossellini broke up in 1991, and Lynch developed a relationship with Mary Sweeney, with whom he had one son, Riley Lynch, in 1992. Sweeney also worked as Lynch's longtime film editor/producer and co-wrote and produced The Straight Story. The two married in May 2006, but divorced that July. Lynch married actress Emily Stofle, who appeared in his 2006 film Inland Empire, in February, 2009.

Short films:

   * Six Men Getting Sick (1966) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD

* Absurd Encounter with Fear (1967) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
* Fictitious Anacin Commercial (1967) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
* The Alphabet (1968) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* The Grandmother (1970) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* The Amputee (1974) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* The Cowboy and the Frenchman (1988) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Broken Hearted (1990) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
* Premonitions Following an Evil Deed (1995) - available on The Short Films of David Lynch DVD
* Darkened Room (2002) - available on the Dynamic 1 DVD
* Ballerina (2006) - available on the Inland Empire DVD
* Boat (2007) - available on the Dynamic 1 DVD
* Bug Crawls (2007) - available on the Dynamic 1 DVD
* Scissors (2008) - available on The Lime Green Set DVD
Awards and nominations -

Academy Awards:

   * 1981: Best Director (The Elephant Man, nominated)

* 1981: Best Adapted Screenplay (The Elephant Man, nominated)
* 1987: Best Director (Blue Velvet, nominated)
* 2002: Best Director (Mulholland Dr., nominated)
BAFTA Awards:

   * 1981: Best Direction (The Elephant Man, nominated)

* 1981: Best Screenplay (The Elephant Man, nominated)
Cannes Film Festival:

   * 1990: Golden Palm (Wild at Heart, won)

* 1992: Golden Palm (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, nominated)
* 1999: Golden Palm (The Straight Story, nominated)
* 2001: Best Director (Mulholland Dr., won Tied with Joel Coen for The Man Who Wasn't There)
* 2001: Golden Palm (Mulholland Dr., nominated)
DGA Award:

   * 1981: Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures (The Elephant Man, nominated)

Emmy Awards:

   * 1990: Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music (Twin Peaks, nominated)

* 1990: Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics (Twin Peaks for the song "Into the Night", nominated)
* 1990: Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (Twin Peaks for the pilot episode, nominated)
* 1990: Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (Twin Peaks for the pilot episode, nominated)
* 1990: Outstanding Drama Series (Twin Peaks)
Golden Globes:

   * 1981: Best Director (The Elephant Man, nominated)

* 1987: Best Screenplay (Blue Velvet, nominated)
* 2002: Best Director (Mulholland Dr., nominated)
* 2002: Best Screenplay (Mulholland Dr., nominated)
Independent Spirit Awards:

   * 1987: Best Director (Blue Velvet, nominated)

* 1987: Best Screenplay (Blue Velvet, nominated)
* 2000: Best Director (The Straight Story, nominated)
* 2007: Special Distinction Award (Shared with Laura Dern for their collaborative work, won)
Saturn Awards:

   * 1993: Best Writing (Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, nominated)

* 1993: Life Career Award (won)
* 2002: Best Director (Mulholland Dr., nominated)
Venice Film Festival:

   * 2006: Future Film Festival Digital Award (Inland Empire won)

* 2006: Career Golden Lion (won)
WGA Award:

   * 1981: Best Drama Adapted from Another Medium (The Elephant Man, nominated)

* 1987: Best Original Screenplay (Blue Velvet, nominated)
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lynch

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000186/