Washington [US], January 20: On what would have been David Lynch’s 79th birthday, Oscar-winning actress Laura Dern paid tribute to her longtime friend and partner.

With a career of innovative filmmaking, the renowned director passed away last week at the age of 78.

On Monday, Dern posted a cute photo of the two on her Instagram account with the message, “Happy birthday, tidbit. For the rest of my life, you will always be loved and missed.

Dern and Lynch had a long-standing relationship that began in 1986 when, at the age of 17, the director cast her in his mystery movie Blue Velvet. The two have worked together on a number of films over the years, such as Industrial Symphony No. 1 (1990), Inland Empire (2006), Lynch’s Twin Peaks reboot in 2017, and Wild at Heart (1990), in which Dern played alongside Nicolas Cage.

Sitting with a live cow on a street corner in Los Angeles and carrying a placard applauding her performance, the director similarly pushed for Dern’s Oscar nomination in 2006 for her role in Inland Empire.

Dern joins a number of Lynch’s regular colleagues, including Isabella Rossellini, Justin Theroux, Naomi Watts, and Kyle MacLachlan, who are all grieving his passing. On Instagram, MacLachlan, who starred in a number of Lynch productions, including Twin Peaks and Blue Velvet, paid tribute to the director, writing:

“While the world has lost a remarkable artist, I’ve lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own.”

Lynch’s legacy endures via his enduring work, and his four children outlive him. Dern, who has recently starred in Palm Royale and Lonely Planet, will next be seen in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly.