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Yellow Pages' iconic French polisher TV ad star now in Hollywood movie, 35 years later

An actor from one of Britains most beloved television adverts has quietly popped up in a massive Marvel blockbuster, 35 years after his iconic 90s screen debut

As classic TV adverts go, the ones by Yellow Pages back in the 80s and 90s have to be up there with the most memorable.

A little boy standing on a stack of the telephone directories to kiss a very tall girl under the mistletoe. An elderly gent searching for a book called Fly Fishing, by JR Hartley. And of course a young lad desperately in need of a French polisher after a house party before his parents arrive home.

In a world before Google, the Reading-based firm produced regional phone books A-Zs of local businesses featuring everything from advice centres to your nearest zoo. And its iconic TV commercials were talked about as much as the Christmas ads from John Lewis are today.

[Simon Schatzberger]

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Simon Schatzberger played the floppy-haired teen party host in need of a French polisher

In 2003, the Cold Feet actor James Nesbitt even featured in a series of ads for the brand as a hapless character called Adam, who used his Yellow Pages to get himself out of difficult situations.

Like James Nesbitt, one of the advert's stars is still appearing on screens today, albeit in lesser-known roles. A young actor from Nottingham, called Simon Schatzberger, played the floppy-haired teen party host in need of a French polisher in the much-loved 1991 ad, after he wakes up on the living room floor following a house party he's thrown while his folks are away.

[Someone has drawn a beard and glasses onto a women in one of the family's prized paintings.]

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Someone has drawn a beard and glasses onto a women in one of the family's prized paintings

Then, stumbling into a bedroom, he finds a stranger on a bed, imploring: "Wake up! My parents fly back today" as the friends hurriedly set things straight around the house. Disaster strikes when he spots a scratch on a wooden table and reaches for the trusty Yellow Pages to find someone who can help.

"Hello, French polishers?" he asks down the phone, adding: "It's just possible you could save my life."

[Simon Schatzberger]

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Simon can be seen in the new Marvel movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day(Image: sischatzberger/twitter)

Luckily, the scratch is expertly polished away just in time and it seems the day has been saved. But at the final moment, the lad realises someone has drawn a beard and glasses onto a women in one of the family's prized paintings.

Now 58, actor Simon can be seen in the new Marvel movie Spider-Man: Brand New Day alongside Tom Holland and Zendaya Coleman, where he plays a role credited as 'Night Driver'. Brit actor Tom, 30, has played Spider-Man in seven films consisting of four solo movies and three crossover appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe while this latest film appears to be Simon's Spider-Man debut.

But Simon is also no stranger to the small screen or stage. He appeared as David Klarfeld on the BBC soap Doctors, which was axed in 2024, and as a Rabbi in EastEnders in December 2018 and January 2019. He's further been seen in Band of Brothers, Daniel Deronda and Father Brown and played Adrian Mole in a production in London's West End shortly after his original Yellow Pages ad appearance.

[Yellow Pages]

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At Yellow Pages' peak, there was 104 editions with nearly 23 million copies distributed yearly(Image: PA)

As for the fate of Yellow Pages itself, the business announced in 2019 that it would cease printing the famous directories after more than half a century. At its peak there was 104 editions with nearly 23 million copies distributed yearly.

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