Larry Kramer, author known for his AIDS activism, dead at age 84

FILE PHOTO: AIDS activist and author Larry Kramer poses for a portrait in his apartment in New York, U.S., June 24, 2019. Picture taken June 24, 2019. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Larry Kramer, an author, playwright and film producer who helped shape U.S. healthcare policy with his early advocacy of a national response to AIDS when it first emerged in the 1980s, died on Wednesday at 84.

Kramer, who co-founded the ACT UP movement that made AIDS a national issue, died of pneumonia after enduring illness for much of his life, including his own battle with the immunodeficiency disease, his close friend, Will Schwalbe, said by phone.