Vale Henri Szeps, Multi Award-Winning Actor and National Treasure of Stage and Screen

Henri was beloved by the public and revered by his peers for the intensity, audacity and variety of his performances. Trained in The Method at Sydney's Ensemble Theatre - where a green room is now named in his honour - Henri took Australian theatre by storm in the 1968 production of "The Boys in the Band". It was there that he met his wife, the actress Mary Ann Severne, who was by his side when he died. 

The pair moved to London in their twenties, where they became darlings of the 1970s acting scene. Henri starred in "I, Claudius" alongside David Warner and toured in the Prospect Theatre Company with Derek Jacobi.

Returning to Australia for his thirtieth birthday, Henri became a fixture of Australian stage and television. From 1984 to 1994, he played Robert ("the arsehole of the family", as Henri lovingly called him) opposite Ruth Cracknell and Garry McDonald in what was voted the best Australian television program ever, Geoffrey Atherden's "Mother and Son".

On television, Henri lit up the screen in countless shows like "A Country Practice", "Skippy", "All Saints" and "Palace of Dreams". He played the prime minister, Harold Holt, in the Logie-winning Nicole Kidman miniseries "Vietnam"; the arch villain in "Mission: Impossible" starring Peter Graves; and a French plantation owner opposite Glenn Close and Harry Connick, Jr in "South Pacific".

On the big screen, Barry Humphries tapped Henri to play a down-on-his-luck scientist, Charles Herpes, in "Les Patterson Saves the World" (Henri also played his own twin sister, a dolled-up nightclub singer named Desiree). He starred in beloved films like "Run, Rebecca, Run" and "Warming Up", and forged a lifelong friendship with "Rumpole of the Bailey's" Leo McKern on the set of David Williamson's "Travelling North". Henri had created the same character, Saul, in the original stage production.

His showstopping theatre performances ranged from Gandalf in the stage production of "The Hobbit"; Sigmund Freud in the award-winning "Freud's Last Session"; Glengarry Glen Ross; Twelve Angry Men; Sam Mendes' reboot of "Cabaret" with Tina Arena and Toby Allen for which Henri won the Helpmann Award for Best Male Actor in a Supporting Role in a Musical, and countless other musicals and plays. Henri cherished his long collaboration with the playwright David Williamson, with whom he also worked on Celluloid Heroes, Dead White Males, Heretic and Cruise Control.

Despite an invitation to join the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, Henri resisted the temptation to advance his career abroad for the sake of his family. The final chapter of his showbiz life was defined by a string of sold-out, semi-autobiographical one-man shows developed at his original stomping ground, The Ensemble Theatre. He jokingly described himself as a travelling troubadour on national tours of "I'm Not a Dentist", "Why Kids?", and "Wish I'd Said That". The first two scripts were published as a compendium book, "One Life, Two Journeys". He also wrote a book on the craft of acting and the art of good comic timing, entitled "All In Good Timing".

By the time Henri finished the run of his final play - David Walliamson's "Cruise Control" - at the age of 70, he concluded that his memory was no longer up to the task, and retired from the stage.

Born in a refugee camp in Switzerland in 1943, Henri's parents were Holocaust survivors from Poland. He came to Australia at the age of eight with his mother and older sister, Maria, who survives him. Henri studied electrical engineering at Sydney University and married Mary Ann 56 years ago. They have two sons: Amos, a psychologist and master coach, and Josh, a broadcaster and journalist. Henri and Mary Ann have four grandchildren. 

Szeps had one of the most enduring and varied careers of any twentieth-century Australian actor. He was awarded countless acting prizes, culminating in an Order of Australia Medal in 2001. His decline from Alzheimer's was largely peaceful, and Henri retained his sense of wonder and joie de vivre until the end. 

His funeral has not yet been announced.

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