The entertainment industry is paying tribute to David Lynch, with Steven Spielberg remembering the iconic director as a "visionary dreamer."

The American filmmaker who was celebrated for his uniquely dark vision in movies such as Blue Velvet has died just days before his 79th birthday.

Then David Lynch dropped a movie-length pilot for a show that would become a beacon of artistic audacity for TV creators in the boom years to come. Among them: David Chase, whose brainchild “The Sopranos” would follow in 1999.