How top-of-the-bill Edward began (7)
I believe the answer is:
started
'began' is the definition.
('start' can be a synonym of 'begin')
'how top-of-the-bill edward' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'top' could be 'star' (eg a top player is a star player) and 'star' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found within the answer.
'edward' could be 'ed' (short for Edward) and 'ed' is located in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for started that I've seen before include "Began; flinched" , "kicked-off" , "Originated" , "showed surprise" , "Made sudden movement from pain or surprise" .)