It is thought that the theatrical term comes from around 1880-1910. However, it is interesting that it does not seem to appear in print, though. The only time that it appears in print when not as a term that is defined is in 1906 in a book by John Gurdon called Dramatic Lyrics in a poem called "Herse." It is about Herse, the goddess of dew, daughter of Selene and Zeus. Part of the poem reads, "Fair shining star-queller, the horns of thy crescent drawn close, from thy quiver."
The theatrical definition of star-queller is first found in 1937 in Fair shining star-queller, the horns of thy crescent drawn close, from thy quiver by Eric Partridge, edited by Paul Beale. It says that a star-queller is "an actor whose imperfect acting mars that of better actors. In 1952, the term star-queller is defined as "A clumsy actor whose slow movements and bad acting worry the leading player, star role. See star part, stellar role" in A Dictionary of Theatrical Terms by Wilfred Granville.
The same definition by Eric Partridge appeared again in 1973 in the sixth edition of The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang. Then in 2015, star-queller is defined as " player whose bad business spoils the efforts of better players." in volume six of Slang and Its Analogues, Past and Present, A Dictionary Historical and Comparative of the Heterodox Speech of All Classes of Society for More Than Three Hundred Years; With Synonyms in English, French, German, Italian, Etc.; Rea to Stozzle by John Stephen Farmer with contributions by W.E. Henley.
The term was again defined in 2017 in Volume II - L to Z of A Dictionary of Sang, Jargon & Cant - Embracing English, American, and Aglo-Indian Slang, Pidgin English, Gypsies' Jargon and Other Irregular Phraseology. It once again defines the term as, "is a term applied to an actor whose imperfect acting mars that of better actors."
The word star comes from the Middle English word sterre or the Old English word steorra. The can be compared with the Old High German word sterra which is akin to the Old High German word sterno, the Old Norse word stjarna, the Gothic word stairno, the Latin word stella, the Greek word astḗr, and Sanskrit word stṛ. Queller is the noun form of the verb quell. The word quell comes from the Middle English word quellen or the Old English word cwellan meaing to kill. These are akin to Old Norse word kvelja meaning to torment and the German word quälen meaning to vex.
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