Henri Szeps

Henri Szeps OAM (/hɛnri zɛps/) (born October 2, 1943^[1]), also spelled Henry Szeps, is a Swiss-born Australian character actor of theatre and television. He has also featured in films and worked in voice roles, and has worked in productions in the United Kingdom.

Henri Szeps was born in 1943 in Lausanne, Switzerland, to Polish parents. Prior to the German invasion of Poland during World War II, his parents fled to France in 1938. His father left the family to join the French Resistance. In 1943, his mother Rose and three-year-old sister Maria made their way to a refugee camp in Lausanne, where Henri was born. In September 1994, having watched babies in the camp become ill, Henri’s mother had him fostered out to a German-speaking Swiss couple in Blumenstein at 11⁄2 months old. In 1946, his mother who had relocated to Paris, reclaimed him when he was three years old, but he returned to the Swiss couple in 1948 when he was 41⁄2, as he couldn’t speak Polish or French and found it hard to communicate with his mother. He was reclaimed by his mother again in 1949, but due to her illness, at the age of six was placed at the Rothschild Orphanage, St Denis, outside Paris.^[2][3]

Szeps came to Sydney, Australia, at the age of eight in 1951 or 1952 with his mother and sister.^[4][5] From 1952, his stepfather Maurice joined then from Paris. His mother worked as a tailor and his stepfather as a presser. They later bought a grocery shop in Surry Hills.^[6]

Szeps started attending Greenwich Primary School, where he appeared in numerous school plays. Starting in 1956, he attended North Sydney Technical High School for 9 months, followed by Randwick Boys High School. From 1959 to 1960 he performed in school productions of The Teahouse of the August Moon.^[7]

Szeps studied acting at the Ensemble Theatre during weekends, under the direction of Hayes Gordon (who instilled in him the method acting techniques of Stanislavski) for four years, while gaining science and electrical engineering degrees at Sydney University. In 1963, while undergoing his studies, he appeared every night at the Ensemble Theatre, in a play called The Physicists, which ran for six months. He also performed in George Bernard Shaw’s The Apple Cart, and Woody Allen’s Don't Drink The Water.^[8]

His early screen credits include police procedural drama series Homicide, children's series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo and adventure series Riptide as well as the film You Can't See 'Round Corners. In 1968, he starred in a successful stage production of Mart Crowley’s The Boys in the Band, where, during the Sydney season, he met his wife-to-be, NIDA graduate and actress Mary Ann Severne, who had come to watch fellow NIDA friends performing in the play.^[9]

Disillusioned by the Australian acting scene, Szeps relocated to England in 1971 together with Severne, in order to hone his acting skills. He initially performed in a production of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure by director Peter Cheeseman, before starring in I, Claudius opposite David Warner, one of the most influential actors at the time. He then toured the UK, the Middle East and the Mediterranean in a Prospect Theatre Company tour of several plays, alongside Derek Jacobi.^[10][11] He also had guest roles in several British television series, including The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes, Spyder's Web, Spy Trap, The Strauss Family, Colditz, Crown Court and Dixon of Dock Green.

Szeps returned to Australia in 1974, where he appeared in the television series Taxi. He played the recurring role of Phillip Chambers in Number 96 in 1976. He then appeared in the TV movies Say You Want Me (1977), Ride on Stranger (1979), The Plumber (1979), A Toast to Melba (1980) and A Step in the Right Direction (1981). Guest roles followed in series such as Chopper Squad, Cop Shop, Kingswood Country and A Country Practice, City West and Carson’s Law. He also performed voiceover work in a number of animated children's classics, including Sherlock Holmes and the Valley of Fear, Sherlock Holmes and a Study in Scarlet and A Tale of Two Cities.

From 1984 to 1994, Szeps played his best known role of selfish dentist Robert Beare, the older son, in the classic Australian television comedy series Mother and Son, with Garry McDonald, Ruth Cracknell and Judy Morris. Another prominent role was in ABC's 10-part series Palace of Dreams, for which he won a Penguin Award for Best Actor in 1985. He then played ill-fated prime minister Harold Holt in the 1987 miniseries Vietnam, alongside Nicole Kidman. He also had further guest roles in drama series Rafferty's Rules, US series Mission: Impossible, medical series G.P. and All Saints, period adventure drama Snowy River: The McGregor Saga and police procedural series Stingers.

Szeps also continued to work extensively in theatre, including several première productions of David Williamson plays – Celluloid Heroes, Dead White Males and Heretic. He played the doctor in the world première of Williamson's Travelling North, and was asked to reprise the role in the 1987 film version with Leo McKern and Graham Kennedy. He has performed in five one-man shows, produced by the Ensemble Theatre, the last three of which were self-penned – The Double Bass (1990), Sky (1992) (written for him by John Misto), I'm Not a Dentist (1997), Why Kids (2003) and Wish I'd Said That (2010).

His final acting role was in the 2015 biographical television miniseries Peter Allen: Not the Boy Next Door, playing Dee Anthony.

Szeps has also written a book on acting, All in Good Timing: A Personal Account of What an Actor Does (1996), which is used as a reference by drama schools.^[12]

Szeps met fellow actress Mary Ann Severne while touring in the Sydney run of the play The Boys in the Band. They married on June 28 1969, and have two sons together, Amos Szeps and ABC broadcaster Josh Szeps.^[13][14]

In 2021, Szeps openly discussed his struggles with early onset dementia on the ABC TV series Just Between Us, alongside son Josh.^[15]

Szeps speaks three languages fluently.^[16]

^[26]

• Henri Szeps at IMDb
• Official website
• "Henri Szeps". AusStage.