The director himself came off as almost performatively normal. Masterpieces like “Eraserhead” and “Mulholland Drive” said otherwise.

Lynch’s weather reports attracted a dedicated following in themselves, becoming such a part of the fabric of Los Angeles — his adopted home for many years, and a lifelong fascination of his he often transmuted on film — that his forecasts were later broadcast on NPR affiliate KCRW.

Reactions from Hollywood were swift and heartfelt. Kyle MacLachlan, who became a star when Lynch cast him as Paul Atreides in 1984's Dune, Blue Velvet (1986), and the TV series Twin Peaks, described the director as "the most authentically alive person I'd ever met":

David Lynch has died at 78. The filmmaker was celebrated for his uniquely dark vision in such movies as “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” and the TV series “Twin Peaks.”

David Lynch, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker who brought surrealist storytelling to the mainstream via 'Twin Peaks' and 'Mulholland Drive,' has died. He was 78.

The loss of singular talent and visionary filmmaker David Lynch is not only felt in the world of cinema, but music, where he had inextricable influence on multiple generations of artists.

David Lynch, the American filmmaker, writer and artist who scored best director Oscar nominations for "Blue Velvet," "The Elephant Man" and "Mulholland Drive" and co-created the groundbreaking TV series "Twin Peaks,

When “Twin Peaks” premiered in 1990, it expanded the cinematic potential of a TV episode and inspired a generation of showrunners.