David Lynch’s Wife: All of the Late Director’s Wives

David Lynch changed the landscape of film with his convoluted, dreamlike style. From game-changers like Mulholland Drive to can’t-miss series like Twin Peaks, Lynch proved himself a master of the dark, bizarre, and surreal. “I always say the same thing,” he once said when asked his advice to young filmmakers, per AnOthermag. “Be true to yourself. Find your own voice and be true to that voice. Never take a bad idea, but never turn down a good idea. And, of course, have final cut. And be true to the ideas.”

Behind the scenes, he was an advocate for transcendental meditation and a heavy smoker — emphysema would plague him in the years before his death on January 16, 2025. He was married several times and was a father. As the world adjusts to the loss of a legend in film, learn more about the women Lynch loved below.

Peggy Reavey

According to Chicago Reader, Lynch married Peggy Reavey in 1968 while living in Philadelphia, before the birth of their daughter Jennifer Lynch that same year. The former couple relocated to Los Angeles in 1971, where Lynch had been accepted into the AFI Conservatory. They split in 1974.

Mary Fisk

Lynch moved on and married Mary Fisk in 1977, and they, too, welcomed one child — Austin Jack Lynch, born in 1982. They separated three years later in 1985, and their divorce was final by 1987.

Isabella Rossellini

Daivd Lynch and Isabella Rossellini in 1990. (Photo by ARNAL/GARCIA/PICOT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

By 1986, Lynch was on the map as a filmmaker — Eraserhead, Blue Velvet, Dune, and The Elephant Man had thrust him into the public spotlight. He fell in love with actress and model Isabella Rossellini, and the duo lived together from 1986 to 1991 but never married. According to the director, it ended badly. “I feel bad about Isabella,” he told Vulture in 2018, while discussing his book Room to Dream, to which Rossellini contributed memories. “This thing that I called her up and said, ‘I never want to see you again.’ I might have done that, but it doesn’t sound like me. I might have wanted to shut the door and not leave a squeak of light coming through. For who knows what reason? I don’t. I’ve just seen Isabella recently and that’s all water under the bridge. But I feel bad about cutting it off that way.”

Mary Sweeney

David Lynch and Mary Sweeney at the Le Moulin de Mougins in Cannes in 2002. (Photo by Jeff Vespa/WireImage)

In 1992, the Hotel Room director married yet again — this time to Mary Sweeney. The couple had worked together as writers and producers on a wide swath of influential films, including Blue Velvet and Inland Empire. She worked as an editor on his films Mulholland Drive, The Straight Story, Hotel Room, and Wild at Heart, among others.

They welcomed their child Riley Sweeney Lynch in 1992, married in May of 2006, and just one month later, filed for divorce in June.

Emily Stofle

Actress Emily Stofle was Lynch’s last attempt at marriage before his death in early 2025. They met on the set of his 2006 movie Inland Empire. The couple married in 2009 and according to the Irish Independent, welcomed their daughter Lula Boginia Lynch in 2012. “Director David Lynch and his wife, Emily, proudly announce the birth of their first child together, Lula Boginia Lynch, who was born on Aug. 28,” his rep reportedly told USA Today in a statement at the time.

In 2023, Stofle filed for divorce from the director. According to InTouch Weekly, they had reached a settlement by December of 2024, but their divorce was not finalized before his death on January 16, 2025.