> In an intro film class, I was asked about the origin of the term "star."
> I puffed up & pontificated, with a little studio history & a little
> Dyer (whose book I can't find here), but my student's question was
> more obvious and more difficult. Why was "star," the astronomical
> term, selected to label charismatic and marketable actors?
I think it had to do with one early studio's advertising, which put
pictures of the actors in the middle of a star.