Beloved actor best known for his starring role in classic Aussie comedy Mother and Son dies at age 81
Best known for his beloved role in the classic ABC 80s sitcom Mother and Son, Szeps also had a career on stage and screen stretching back sixty years.
Born in Switzerland in 1943 to Polish parents, Henri arrived in Australia in the early 1950s, amid a surge of immigrants fleeing a Europe devastated by World War II.
Henri's family settled in Sydney and he got his start as a performer at the Ensemble on the city's north shore.
Known for his versatility, Henri's early roles included parts in such classic Aussie series like Homicide (1964-1977) and the much-loved children's adventure-drama Skippy (1968-1970).
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However, it was a part in the notorious 'gay' stage play by US playwright Mart Crowley, The Boys in the Band in 1968, that wowed critics and made Henri a name to watch.
According to an obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald on Thursday, the production was also a personal milestone for Henri.
It was backstage during the show's run where he met his wife, Mary Ann Severne.
The couple were married in 1969.
Henri also made a splash in Channel 10's 'adult' soap Number 96, which had fans gasping at its rough language and nudity when it launched in 1976.
Still, it was his role in the ABC hit Mother and Son that brought Henri a huge and loving audience.
Debuting in 1984, the series centred on Ruth Cracknell's character Maggie Beare, and her sons, the devoted but impatient Arthur (Garry MacDonald) and his rascally and selfish elder brother, Robert (Szeps).
As he entered mid-career Henri won plaudits playing Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt in Kennedy Miller's landmark drama Vietnam (1987).
He also appeared in other much-loved series including Carson's Law, A Country Practice, Rafferty's Rules, G.P. and All Saints.
In 2021 Henri Szeps was diagnosed with early onset dementia.
In a heartbreaking program for the ABC series Just Between Us, he spoke about how his condition had affected his family alongside his son Josh.
'Dad has dementia, technically Alzheimer's,' Josh, an ABC broadcaster, said in the documentary.
'For us, it's about understanding how to support him and, most of all, support mum in her support of him, so that we can sustain a normal life for all of us as long as humanly as possible.'
The filmmakers recorded Henri watching an episode of Mother and Son in the family home.
'I don't know,' he said when asked about his condition. 'I refuse to hide behind it, it's there. All I can say is, all's well that ends well.'
Josh said his father was still a 'barrel of laughs' who 'makes fun of himself constantly' after his dementia caused habitual forgetfulness.
Henri added: 'Everybody around me might know that it's going, the brain's going, but I don't. I still think I'm right on the ball!'
He emphasised his son's point about staying positive in regard to his condition and said the best way to cope is to 'take it as it is and love it'.
The actor died surrounded by his family, after moving into a residential care facility in 2023.
Henri is survived by his wife Severne and their sons, Josh and Amos.
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