Born in precisely the kind of small-town American setting so familiar from his films, David Lynch spent his childhood being shunted from one state to another as his research scientist father kept getting relocated. He attended various art schools, married, and fathered future director Jennifer Chambers Lynch shortly after he turned 21. That experience, plus attending art school in a particularly violent and run-down area of Philadelphia, inspired Eraserhead, a film that he began in the early 1970s (after a couple of shorts) and which he would work on obsessively for five years. The final film was initially judged to be almost unreleasably weird, but thanks to the efforts of distributor Ben Barenholtz, it secured a cult following and enabled Lynch to make his first mainstream film (in an unlikely alliance with Mel Brooks), though The Elephant Man was shot through with his unique sensibility. Its enormous critical and commercial success led to Dune, a hugely expensive commercial disaster, but Lynch redeemed himself with Blue Velvet, his most personal and original work since his debut. He subsequently won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival with the dark, violent road movie David Lynch's Wild at Heart, and achieved a huge cult following with his surreal TV series _"Twin Peaks" (1990)_ , which he adapted for the big screen, though his comedy series On the Air was less successful. He also draws comic strips and has devised multimedia stage events with regular composer Angelo Badalamenti. He had a much-publicised affair with Isabella Rossellini in the late 1980s.


The Alphabet (1968): $1,000

Ate lunch at Bob's Big Boy in Los Angeles, California, nearly every day for almost eight years in a row. His grandfather was Finnish. Personally approved DVD releases of his movies do not have any chapter stops. This is done because he believes that films are meant to be viewed from beginning to end. Projects he has written but to date has not produced include "Ronnie Rocket," "Up at the Lake," and "One Saliva Bubble." His favorite band is Rammstein. After the financial disaster that was Dune (1984), Lynch and Dino De Laurentiis were almost ready to part company but Lynch showed Dino the script for Blue Velvet (1986), which he had been working on for some time, and the two combined talents to make the seminal 1986 classic. Daughter, Director Jennifer Chambers Lynch (b. 1968), with first wife actress Peggy Lynch. Son, Austin Jack Lynch (b. 1982), with second wife Mary Fisk. Son, Riley Lynch (b. 1992), with film editor Mary Sweeney (she later became his third wife). His son, Austin Jack Lynch, appeared in an episode of "Twin Peaks" (1990) as Pierre Tremond, or the Creamed-Corn Kid. His nephew, Jonathan J. Leppell, played Pierre Tremond/Chalfont in the movie Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). Julee Cruise, who appears in "Twin Peaks" (1990), is his musical protégée. Lynch wrote the lyrics on her first album, some of the lyrics of her second album, and occasionally plays an instrument on her recordings. Biography in: John Wakeman, editor. "World Film Directors, Volume Two, 1945-1985," pp. 621-626 (as David K. Lynch). New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1988. Has cited Luis Buñuel, Werner Herzog, Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Stanley Kubrick, and Roman Polanski as some of his influences. Announced at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival that he has been shooting a feature length project on digital video called "Inland Empire" for over a year. He also announced that he was so impressed with digital that he was giving up directing on projects on film. President of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002. He was offered the chance to direct Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), but he turned it down, saying that the script was funny, but it wasn't his thing. Is friends with Kyle MacLachlan. His grandmother was German. Was engaged to Italian actress Isabella Rossellini from 1986 to 1990. Is friends with Mädchen Amick. Is mentioned in German author Patrick Roth's short story "Lynch for Lunch" (2008). Has practiced Transcendental Meditation for twenty minutes each day since 1973. Served as an usher at the Presidential Inaugaration of John F. Kennedy (20 January 1961). Born to Donald Lynch, a research scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and his wife Sunny, an English language tutor. Some of his favorite films of all time are: 8 1/2 (1963), La Strada (1954), Sunset Boulevard (1950), The Apartment (1960), Lolita (1962), Persona (1966), Hour of the Wolf (1968), Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953), My Uncle (1958), Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), Stroszek (1977) and The Wizard of Oz (1939). He was so impressed by Sheryl Lee's performance as the dead Laura Palmer in "Twin Peaks" (1990)' pilot episode that he wrote the role of Maddy Ferguson for her, in order to bring her back in the series. Has worked with real-life father-son pair José Ferrer and Miguel Ferrer in Dune (1984) and 'Twin Peaks (1990)(TV)'; and real-life mother-daughter pair Diane Ladd and Laura Dern in Wild at Heart (1990) and Blue Velvet (1986).