The best of David Lynch: pay tribute to the beloved director with his most famous filmography
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Legendary director David Lynch has died age 78, leaving fans and friends devastated. His work as an artist and filmmaker was so distinct it birthed the phrase Lynchian to describe the singular macabre and surreal mood he created with his art. As the culture world mourns one of America’s greatest artists, here’s the list of some of his greatest work to watch this weekend – and forever.
![['My heart is broken': Naomi Watts pays tribute to legendary Twin Peaks and Mulholland Drive director David Lynch]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/17/7/19/Naomi-Watts-Tribute-lzmdy5my.jpeg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Filmed in black and white, Lynch’s first feature length film was Eraserhead, a body horror extravaganza about a man attempting to care for and ultimately killing a mysterious deformed baby. The surreal and menacing script was informed by everything from Kafka and the Bible to Lynch’s own experience living in the crime-ridden Philadelphia of the Seventies with his young daughter, who was born with clubbed feet.
![[Isabella Rossellini says she loved former partner David Lynch so much]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/17/12/2df05156d2206da5d6d22d5a67b86fa1Y29udGVudHNlYXJjaGFwaSwxNzM3MjAzMTIy-2.78710262.jpg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Lynch funded Eraserhead over four years of production with a $10,000 grant, donations from friends, and cash from his paper round delivering the Wall Street Journal. In a piece of Lynchian lore, the prop for the terrifying alien baby was kept secret during production. No one knows what it was made of – it’s something Lynch has taken with him to the grave.
![[David Lynch transcended film: he was one of America’s greatest artists]](https://static.standard.co.uk/2025/01/17/10/28/avid-Lynch-poses-at-his-Los-Angeles-home-March-14-2002-wljz7paz.jpeg?crop=8:5,smart&quality=75&auto=webp&width=960)
Lynch based his next film on the life of Joseph Merrick, the Victorian artist famous for his physical deformities. Also filmed in black and white and starring Anthony Hopkins, The Elephant Man was a huge success, garnering eight Academy Award nominations and three Baftas.
