David Lynch, legendary director of 'Twin Peaks' and 'Blue Velvet,' dead at 78

David Lynch, the storied American moviemaker, musician and actor, has died at 78.

His family announced the news with a post on Facebook Thursday.

"It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the passing of the man and the artist, David Lynch," the post read. "We would appreciate some privacy at this time. There's a big hole in the world now that he's no longer with us. But, as he would say, 'Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole.' "

The filmmaker's family did not share the cause of his death. USA TODAY has reached out to representatives for Lynch for comment.

Last year, the director revealed he had been diagnosed in 2020 with emphysema, a lung disease caused primarily by smoking. Nevertheless, "I am filled with happiness, and I will never retire," Lynch assured his fans on social media last August. "I want you all to know that."

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Lynch was the mastermind behind "Twin Peaks," a cult-classic television series that brought film-like surrealism to the small screen. His other notable works included the movies "Mulholland Drive" (2001), "The Straight Story" (1999) and "Lost Highway" (1997).

Born in Missoula, Montana, in 1946, Lynch grew up painting and drawing before discovering his love of moviemaking as a student at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia. After a series of short films, he made his feature-length debut with 1977's "Eraserhead," a black-and-white body horror oddity about a father (Jack Nance) caring for his deformed baby.

He found awards success with 1980's "The Elephant Man," which starred Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt and Anne Bancroft, which was nominated for eight Oscars, including best picture and best director. Although his 1984 adaptation of space opera "Dune" was a critical and commercial failure, he rebounded two years later with "Blue Velvet," starring Isabella Rossellini as a tortured lounge singer caught up in a criminal conspiracy.

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The film was Lynch's first collaboration with Laura Dern, who went on to appear in the director's "Wild at Heart" (1990), "Inland Empire" (2006) and "Twin Peaks: The Return" (2017).

In 2021, Dern told Elle magazine that Lynch "is my family" and "my great inspiration in life." She elaborated in a 2017 interview with W Magazine: "I'm always excited and surprised by what he asks me to play. Even in the beginning, I signed on because of David. He inspires that trust."

Lynch had many frequent collaborators throughout his life, working repeatedly with Naomi Watts, Justin Theroux, Harry Dean Stanton, Laura Harring and Kyle MacLachlan. On "Twin Peaks," MacLachlan played the offbeat FBI agent Dale Cooper, who's tasked with solving the grisly murder of high schooler Laura Palmer. The show's eccentric characters and unsolved mysteries inspired a passionate fandom after the show premiered on ABC in 1990.

"I still love them so much, and the world I love," Lynch told USA TODAY in 2014. "The next surprise was that people around the world loved the world and the characters (too). The happiest sort of surprises came out of 'Twin Peaks.' "

Lynch's signature dark, dreamlike style has left an indelible mark on cinema, inspiring countless young filmmakers, including Ari Aster, Coralie Fargeat and David Lowery. He was nominated for four Oscars throughout his career; the most recent was best director in 2002 for "Mulholland Drive," which is widely regarded by critics as one of this century's best films. He never won a competitive Oscar, although he received an honorary statue in 2019.

He also made a handful of TV and movie appearances as an actor, most recently playing Hollywood legend John Ford in Steven Spielberg's "The Fabelmans" in 2022.

Lynch was married four times and had a five-year relationship with Rossellini in the late 1980s. He is survived by four children, including Jennifer Lynch, who is a noted TV director (Netflix's "Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story").

In an interview with People in November, Lynch revealed he needed supplemental oxygen to do anything more physically demanding than walking across a room. He told the outlet that he began smoking at age 8 and tried to quit "many, many times" over the decades. Lynch said he eventually gave up the habit in 2022.

“In the back of every smoker’s mind is the fact that it’s healthy, so you’re literally playing with fire,” Lynch said. “It can bite you. I took a chance, and I got bit.”

Contributing: Brian Truitt

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: David Lynch death: 'Twin Peaks,' 'Mulholland Drive' director dies