Actor Henri Szeps, best known from the original Mother And Son, has died at age 81.
He had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and was living in a residential care facility since 2023.
The son of Holocaust survivors from Poland, Szeps was born in a Swiss refugee camp in 1943. He migrated to Australia with his mother and younger sister in the early 1950s.
He trained in acting at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney and while performing in the controversial play Boys In The Band — about a group of gay men at a birthday party — he met actress Mary Ann Severne. The pair married in 1969.
Early television credits included You Can’t See Round Corners, Skippy The Bush Kangaroo, Division 4, Riptide, Spyforce and Homicide.
He and wife Severne spent some years working in the UK. Upon returning to Australia he featured as multiple guest characters in Number 96, including the role of bisexual teacher Phillip Chambers, whose former lover was played by Severne.
He also appeared in the telemovies Do I Have to Kill My Child?, The Plumber and The Girl From Moonooloo, comedy special The Dick Emery Show In Australia, dramas Chopper Squad, Ride On Stranger, MPSIB, Carson’s Law and Cop Shop and sitcoms Daily At Dawn, Home Sweet Home and Kingswood Country.
In 1984 he commenced his most famous role, the mischievous “other son” Robert Beare in the ABC sitcom Mother And Son. Starring alongside Ruth Cracknell, Garry McDonald and Judy Morris, the series ran for ten years. During this time he also had a leading role in the ABC drama Palace Of Dreams, a ten-part series about a Jewish family running a hotel in working class inner city of Sydney in the 1930s.
He also starred as Prime Minister Harold Holt in the 1987 mini-series Vietnam.
Later TV credits included A Country Practice, City West, Rafferty’s Rules, Mission: Impossible, Hampton Court, Stingers, Flat Chat, All Saints, Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door and the US telemovie South Pacific.
Movie credits included Fatty Finn, Run Rebecca Run, The Return Of Captain Invincible, The Best Of Friends, Les Patterson Saves The World and Travelling North.
He retired from acting at age 70. The green room at the Ensemble Theatre is named in his honour and he received an Order of Australia Medal in 2001.
Henri Szeps is survived by wife Mary Ann Severne, two sons, Josh and Amos, and four grandchildren.
Source: The Age, IMDB, Number 96 Home Page. TV Week, 31 May 1986.
