Franciscus Henricus Antheunis, professionally known as Franciscus Henri (born 7 August 1947, in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

), is a musician and children's entertainer. He has dual Dutch and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n nationality. In 1970 he gained national prominence when he competed in the TV talent quest ''

New Faces ''New Faces'' is a British television talent show that aired in the 1970s and 1980s. It has been hosted by Leslie Crowther, Derek Hobson and Marti Caine. It was produced for the ITV network by ATV, and later by Central. Original series: ...

'', which led to a recording contract with the Melbourne-based independent label Fable Records. From 1997, he also performs as Mister Whiskers, a travelling singer who loves children and performs for them with his dog companion, Smiggy.

Biography

Franciscus Henricus Antheunis Jr. was born on 7 August 1947 in

. In 1956, his father, Franciscus Henricus Antheunis Sr., (born 25 October 1914) and his mother Pietertje (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Van Der Pol, born 21 September 1919) migrated to Australia on board the Dutch ship ''Johan van Oldenbarnevelt'' with his older brother Roelof A (born 8 November 1943), Franciscus Henri and his younger sister Maria T (born 28 June 1950). Henri finished his education in Australia and became a qualified secondary arts and craft teacher. In October 1969, Henri performed at the 1st Annual Festival of Gospel Music with Faye Meadows, David Meadows, Leonie Hawthorn and 3-in-1 Gospel Jazz Trio. In 1970 he gained national prominence when he competed as a folk musician on a TV talent quest, ''

'', which led to a recording contract with the Melbourne-based independent label Fable Records – label boss, Ron Tudor, was a judge on ''New Faces''. In September 1970 Henri's debut single, "Mary and Me" was issued by Fable and he recorded further singles and an LP, '' Ding Dong Who Rang the Bell'' (1972). His second album, ''Gabriel's Mother's Highway'' (1972) is described as "a refreshing folk album ... a slightly religious but innocent era". In 1972 Henri toured with English poet Sydney Carter, and in 1973 he left teaching to join the

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

Theatre company as a set designer, actor and musician. He participated in the Alexander Theatre productions of ''Puckoon'', ''Under Milkwood'' (both 1974), ''Laertes'' (1970s) and ''Giant John'' (1975). In 1976 he toured throughout Australia and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

supporting the English-Irish comedian

Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright and actor. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British India, where he spent his ...

. Henri formed a production company in that year, and began producing performances throughout Australia in conjunction with state arts councils. From 1979 to October 1980, Henri was a member of the original cast of ''

Shirl's Neighbourhood ''Shirl's Neighbourhood'' was an Australian afternoon children's television series which first aired on the Seven Network on Monday the 2nd April 1979 and continued Monday to Fridays till 1983. The half-hour show featured former Skyhooks frontm ...

'', a children's television show, presenting his own segments as himself and, as an early alter-ego, Professor Henri. By 1982, Henri was married. It was around this time that Henri started to perform children's concerts. Henri also wrote and presented a series of programs and adds for the Victorian Christian Television Association. He also appeared on the Q7 program filmed in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. In 1997 he started performing to children as his new character, MISTER WHISKERS, and released his first album under his new

moniker A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

, '' Hello Mister Whiskers'', which was nominated for the Best Children's Album Aria Award. He has performed across the globe, including festivals such as: the Vancouver International Children's Festival and Port Fairy Folk Festival (seven times); and (as MISTER WHISKERS) is the only performer to have played at every

Warrnambool Warrnambool (; Eastern Maar, Maar: ''Peetoop'' or ''Wheringkernitch'' or ''Warrnambool'') is a city on the south-western coast of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. At the Census in Australia#2021, 2021 census, Warrnambool had a populati ...

''Fun 4 Kids Festival'' since its inception 1998. He has also performed in Singapore a number of times with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. From 1989 to 2002 he was a recording artist for ABC Music (ABC for kids), as well as a creator and producer of cover designs, for his own and other releases. He is the writer of the popular song 'Ducks Like Rain' a cover version recorded by Canadian entertainer

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian (, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is an Armenian-Canadian singer-lyricist and author born in Egypt best known for his children's music. In 1992, ''The Washington Post'' called him "the most p ...

His most recent work is '' Nothing Fixed or Final'', the words and music of Sydney Carter, as performed by Henri.Stainer & Bell: Sydney Carter
/ref> He has presented it throughout Victoria and recently in Boston US. In London UK. he performed in the Sydney Carter memorial concert(Oct 2007) He has so far received seven

ARIA In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

award nominations for his various recording work. Franciscus is also an exhibiting painter.

Discography

* 1972 '' Ding Dong Who Rang the Bell'' * 1972 ''Gabriel's Mother's Highway'' * 1975 ''Pigtails'' * 1976 ''Lord of the Dance'' * 1981 '' Sunshine Rainbows and Violins'' * 1981 '' Children's Christmas Songs'' * 1985 ''Fifty Golden Nursery Rhymes'' * 1988 ''

Tree House A tree house, tree fort or treeshed, is a platform or building constructed around, next to or among the trunk or branches of one or more mature trees while above ground level. Tree houses can be used for recreation, work space, habitation, a ha ...

Releases on CD

Videos/DVDs

*''OH NO! It's The Franciscus Henri Video'' (1992) *'' I'm Hans Christian Andersen'' (1994) *''Hello MISTER WHISKERS!'' (1998) *''My Favourite Nursery Rhymes'' (2000) *''Sing a Song in Singapore''

Awards and nominations

APRA Music Awards

ARIA Music Awards

References

External links

Franciscus Henri
portraits at Picture Australia, National Library of Australia. * with Lyn Gallacher on

ABC Radio National ABC Radio National, more commonly known as Radio National or simply RN, is an Australian nationwide public service radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. ...

on 30 April 2005 regarding ''Nothing Fixed or Final''. Archived fro
the original
on 23 March 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Henri, Franciscus 1947 births Living people Australian children's musicians Dutch emigrants to Australia Australian guitarists Musicians from Melbourne Australian record producers Naturalised citizens of Australia Australian Christians Australian folk singers Australian pop singers Acoustic guitarists Australian male guitarists Australian male singer-songwriters Australian singer-songwriters 20th-century Australian folk musicians 21st-century Australian folk musicians