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Él fue un hombre ordinario, pero llegó a ser una figura muy importante.

Él fue un hombre ordinario, pero llegó a ser una figura muy importante.
He was an ordinary man, but he became a very important figure.
From Lesson 218:Culminating changes (llegar a ser)·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Él fue un hombre ordinario, pero llegó a ser una figura muy importante.

Why use llegó a ser for "became" instead of another verb like se hizo or se puso?
Llegar a ser is used when a change is the culmination of a long process, time, or effort, much like saying "eventually became" or "managed to become." While se hizo is also used for changes in status or profession, llegó a ser strongly emphasizes the journey and the impressive final result. Se puso wouldn't work here because it's used for sudden, temporary changes in mood or appearance.
Why is it Él fue (preterite) instead of Él era (imperfect)? Isn't "he was" usually imperfect when describing someone's past?
Background descriptions usually do use the imperfect (era). However, using the preterite (fue) here treats his time as an ordinary man as a completed, closed chapter of his life. It emphasizes the clean break between his past state and the important figure he eventually became.
Why does the sentence use the feminine una figura when referring to a man (Él)?
The word figura (meaning "figure" or "prominent person") is a grammatically feminine noun. Its gender is permanently feminine and doesn't change based on the biological gender of the person it describes. Because the noun is feminine, the article must also be feminine (una).
I've heard that ordinario can mean "vulgar" or "rude." How do we know it just means "ordinary" here?
You're right that ordinario can mean "vulgar" depending on the context. However, it also translates directly to "ordinary," "common," or "average." Here, the second half of the sentence contrasts his past with becoming una figura muy importante (a very important figure), which makes it clear from context that ordinario just means he used to be a regular, average guy.

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