1908 — Eugene Manlove Rhodes, "The Torch", Out West, August 1908:
Himself almost unknown, Gay yet held a curious subcelebrity with not a few men who had won distinction in widely diverging lines.
1997 — Vanity Fair, Volume 60, page 165:
Unlike anyone before him, Drudge covers the subcelebrity world of news, journalism, and politics with the sort of breathless enthusiasm usually reserved for movie stars and models.
2003 — David Lazar, The Body of Brooklyn, University of Iowa Press (2003), →ISBN, page 71:
He moved in a kind of subcelebrity world, hanging out with second-string linebackers, third-rate entertainers, City Hall managers, businessmen, stewardesses, wise guys.
Noun: "a person who is somewhat known but not famous enough to be considered a true celebrity"[edit]
1993 — Jack B. Moore, Skinheads Shaved for Battle: A Cultural History of American Skinheads, Bowling Green State University Popular Press (1993), →ISBN, page 130:
Even subcelebrity Morton Downey Jr.'s alleged assault by chimerical skinheads received more national exposure than most hostile acts by various local skinheads or groups.
The star of "American Idol's" parallel online universe — a hyperactive value-add for fans of the juggernaut franchise — is yet another member of television's huge class of subcelebrities: Ty Treadway.
When General Motors rolled out its ice-blue, all-electric car in California in 1996, celebrities and subcelebrities and dot-com arrivistes (including director Chris Paine) snatched them up like candy.
2008 — Bill Folman, The Scandal Plan: or: How to Win the Presidency by Cheating on Your Wife, Harper (2009), →ISBN, page 30:
Peter felt that all celebrities and subcelebrities — and even sub-sub-sub-sub-celebrities (which he privately considered himself to be) — had a responsibility to understand the role they played in shaping the lives of young America.
2009 — Ron C. Judd, The Winter Olympics: An Insider's Guide to the Legends, the Lore, and the Game, The Mountaineers Books (2009), →ISBN, page 73:
Contestants — some athletes, but many B-movie stars and other subcelebrities — slide down German luge/bobsled runs seated on large woks, with ladles strapped to their feet to steer and prevent friction.
2012 — Beth Harbison, When in Doubt, Add Butter, St. Martin's Press (2012), →ISBN, page 62:
So Angela was relegated to the netherworld of D.C. subcelebrities — not quite interesting enough to be famous but just famous enough to be interesting.