George Martin Dolis

George Martin Dolis was born on March 26, 1933 in St. Louis, MO., to George and Florence (Vance) Dolis. He attended high school seminaries in Iowa and Missouri, where he enjoyed the rigors of a semi-classical education, including Latin and German. He loved the rituals, but left when he discovered he lacked faith. After graduating high school, he initially enrolled in the engineering program at the University of Miami, but had to return home when his father's illness left the family destitute and depending on his support. George entered military service in 1953; he was assigned to the Army Security Agency and stationed in Germany for several years. In 1957 he enrolled in Columbia University, graduating with a Bachelor in Science in German Languages and Literature in 1962. During the summers, he earned his living as a seaman in the Merchant Marine, traveling to Europe, Cuba and Panama. In 1963 he enrolled in the Germanic Languages and Literature graduate program at Columbia, spending two summers at the University of Uppsala in Sweden before transferring to the University of Chicago where he received his M.A in 1966. After one year of exploring the life of a merchant marine full time, he returned to Uppsala to begin working on his dissertation, though actually spent more time at the Swedish Film Institute where he met Ingmar Bergman, Max von Sydow and other directors and actors. Those early years were the foundation for his life-long love of travel and the ocean as well as his passion for independent films. He returned to the US after the death of his mother in 1969 and accepted a one-semester position at Washington University in St, Louis, teaching Scandinavian Languages and Literature. The one semester turned into nine years in which he greatly expanded the offerings of both the Germanic and the Comparative Literature department, teaching film history in addition to his language classes. His courses attracted students from other disciplines, whether art, philosophy, architecture or even the medical school; he was known to accept poems, sculptures and drawings as term papers for his class and, together with his students, ran multiple films series on campus, ranging from early German Cinema to French New Wave and films by Luis Bunuel and Akiro Kurosawa. He became very interested in the New German Cinema, especially after meeting Werner Herzog at a conference in the mid-70s. This eventually led to the translation of one of Herzog's scripts, Kaspar Hauser, in collaboration with a German exchange student, Ingrid Weigand, who had attended his classes. In 1979, George and Ingrid moved to Austin, TX where they immersed themselves in the happily-starving artists community: film, theater, music, and later video. In 1981, they travelled to the Amazon to the set of Herzog's film Fitzcarraldo, which led to several published articles. In 1984, George left his wedding celebration to complete his first Public Access video class; after that, he and Ingrid began documenting the performances of friends they had made in the music community, from Blaze Foley to Townes van Zandt to Guy Clark. They also started producing videos for non-profit organizations and created short documentaries on the homeless in Austin, the Kerrville Music Festival and the Texas screenwriter Horton Foote. George joined the local stage union and worked shows for many years; in addition, he created lighting designs for Austin Music Network productions from 1994 to 98. He continued to travel, using Ingrid's bi-annual trips to Germany as a starting point to explore other European countries and finally reconnecting with the Paris, France, branch of his family. George loved telling stories, the shaggier, the better; he was irreverent, bursting with ideas and allergic to restraints of any kind. Finishing projects or being on time were not among his strong points, but he made people laugh and affected them with his enthusiasm. He spent the last weeks of his life as he had wished - sitting in the sun on his porch, visiting with friends, sneaking food to his dogs and watching his birds and squirrels. He is survived by Ingrid Weigand, his wife of 42 years. Ingrid wishes to express her deep gratitude to Hospice Austin.

George Martin Dolis

March 26, 1933 - January 5, 2026