Los Angeles officials have revealed the cause of death for filmmaker David Lynch, who died last month at the age of 78.
Lynch, known for his surreal and esoteric works such as Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet, died of cardiac arrest, according to a death certificate released Friday by the L.A. County Department of Public Health with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) listed as an underlying condition and dehydration as another significant factor.
The document says no autopsy was performed to reach this conclusion.
Lynch passed away on January 16, according to the death certificate, just days shy of his 79th birthday.
Breitbart’s David Ng wrote on the day his death was announced:
Lynch, a longtime Los Angeles resident, said last year that he had been diagnosed with emphysema following a lifetime of smoking.
Widely regarded as one of the most important auteurs of the last forty years, David Lynch made movies that often defied description, creating non-linear narratives and swapped identities that broke totally with Hollywood cliches and conventions. As surreal and at times avant-garde as they could be, many of his works were grounded in an all-American and almost old-fashioned folksiness, with roots in Lynch’s own small-town upbringing.
Lynch was both a part of and completely separate from the Hollywood entertainment industry. He worked for major studios and TV networks and yet managed to retain his singular creative voice — though sometimes not without a fight.
According to TMZ, Lynch was staying at his daughter’s house, displaced by historic wildfires in Los Angeles. When he announced his emphysema diagnosis, the director shared that he could not even walk without supplemental oxygen.
The death certificate states Lynch was cremated and buried on January 22.
