what led him to rise to prominence?
His works like  "Look Mickey".
Roy Lichtenstein
His first work to feature the large-scale use of hard-edged figures and Ben-Day dots was "Look Mickey" (1961, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.). 
what is a golf ball? A 1962 painting by Roy Lichtenstein. what is the theme of the painting? It depicts a single sphere with patterned, variously directional semi-circular grooves. where is the painter from? New York
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Roy Lichtenstein [SEP] Rise to prominence
In 1960, he started teaching at Rutgers University where he was heavily influenced by Allan Kaprow, who was also a teacher at the university. This environment helped reignite his interest in Proto-pop imagery. In 1961, Lichtenstein began his first pop paintings using cartoon images and techniques derived from the appearance of commercial printing. This phase would continue to 1965, and included the use of advertising imagery suggesting consumerism and homemaking. His first work to feature the large-scale use of hard-edged figures and Ben-Day dots was "Look Mickey" (1961, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.). This piece came from a challenge from one of his sons, who pointed to a Mickey Mouse comic book and said; "I bet you can't paint as good as that, eh, Dad?" In the same year he produced six other works with recognizable characters from gum wrappers and cartoons.