Unclear, disturbing, and surreal are some of the adjectives that define the work of David Lynch (January 20, 1946), creator of the cult film Eraserhead and the hit series Twin Peaks. But, what is behind one of the most iconic directors of the seventh art? If you want to know, stay and read David Lynch’s net worth and biography, in which we do a brief review of his career.
David Lynch biography
Although most of his productions seem like something out of a nightmare, David Lynch’s childhood was idyllic. Born on January 20, 1946, in Missoula, Montana, Lynch grew up in a middle-class home, in full economic splendor that prevailed during the 1950s in the United States.
The only difficulty he had in his youth was because his father, a scientist from the Ministry of Agriculture, was obliged to move continuously to different country wooded areas to carry out research. The young David used to accompany him. In this way, the future director discovered that there was a world full of pests, insects, and corpses that fueled his creativity under the surface.
The painting was the first discipline in which Lynch captured his overflowing imagination. However, realizing that it was devoid of sound and movement, he decided to add both characteristics to one of his works. Thus was born Six Men Getting Sick (1967), his first short film and his first success, since with this piece Lynch won the Annual Contest of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), the institution where he had started higher studies.
David Lynch net worth
In 2019, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to award David Lynch an honorary Oscar in tribute to his forty-year career and his aesthetic contributions that have revolutionized the way of filmmaking. David Lynch net worth net worth is around 70 million dollars. In 2004, Eraserhead was preserved by the National Film Registry of the United States Congress, being a work considered fundamental to cinema’s history. Although it was easy for him to make friends and he had the chance to play with his younger siblings, he preferred to spend his afternoons in the garden imagining strange worlds.
Unexpected parenthood
In 1966, young Lynch had moved to Philadelphia’s industrial area where robberies and murders were a daily occurrence. He lived with his first wife, Peggy, who had become pregnant when they were still university students.
Faced with these circumstances, Lynch worked in various trades, even cleaning bathrooms to support his family and pay for surgical interventions for his daughter, Jennifer. The latter was born with a condition called clubfoot, which caused deformations in the area.
All these experiences served as the basis for Lynch to create his debut feature: Eraserhead.
Eraserhead: a nightmare production
In early 1972, thanks to funding from the American Film Institute (AFI), David Lynch began filming his first feature film: Eraserhead. Originally this was to be filmed over six weeks. However, this time spanned five years.
The film tells a young student who is forced to marry when his girlfriend becomes pregnant. She gives birth to a monstrous creature that won’t stop crying, driving new parents crazy.
Initially, the AFI planned that this idea would be another of Lynch’s short films. When the executives noticed that the tape was getting longer, they decided to suspend the budget and stopped providing the recording equipment and spaces.
Despite this, the production team was so committed to the project that Jack Nance and Charlotte Stewart helped Lynch with filming costs. For his part, Lynch worked selling newspapers in search of funds for the film. However, the financial difficulties were of such magnitude that he ended up divorcing and, homeless, forced to live illegally on the film set.
After so many efforts, the film was released in 1977. Although it received harsh criticism from the press, Eraserhead became a cult film, whose value was recognized at the Avoriaz Fantastic Film Festival in 1980. It was awarded the Golden Antenna.
David Lynch, from the cult cinema to the honorary Oscar
The director Mel Brooks, delighted with Eraserhead, gave David Lynch the opportunity to direct The Elephant Man (1980). This film was the truly great success of his career, as it garnered eight Oscar nominations, including best director, and won in the category of best foreign film at the César Awards.
Since then, Lynch has produced ten films, including the Palme d’Or winners at the Cannes Film Festival: Wild at Heart (1990) and Mulholland Drive (2001).
In 2017, at Cannes, Lynch received a standing ovation of more than five minutes after screening the first episode of the third season of Twin Peaks. This series is considered a true cultural phenomenon since its premiere in 1990.
