Larry Kramer, a pioneering New York AIDS activist and playwright, died Wednesday at the age of 84.

Larry Kramer has died, at 84 years old. “There is no question in my mind that Larry helped change medicine in this country,” Anthony Fauci said in a 2002 Profile of the activist and author. https://t.co/Z3BshxhN7p

— The New Yorker (@NewYorker) May 27, 2020

David Webster, Kramers husband, told the New York Times that Kramer had been suffering from pneumonia. Kramer had been positive with HIV since 1988. 

Kramer famously used his films such as “The Normal Heart” to raise awareness of the AIDS crisis in the gay community during the 1980s. He received an oscar nomination for his novel “Faggots” which debuted in 1978. “The Normal Heart” won a Tony Award for the best revived play in 2011. His 1992 play “The Destiny of Me” was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. (RELATED: Brian May Reveals He Was Rushed To Hospital After Heart Attack)

Kramer co-founded the Gay Men’s Health Crisis in 1981 and started the ACT UP, AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power to attempt to end the AIDS pandemic. The groups both addressed advocacy for the sick and sought treatment to those afflicted with AIDS.

Kramer was also friends with Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is leading the United State’s coronavirus lockdown. According to the New Yorker, Fauci said “There is no question in my mind that Larry helped change medicine in this country and he helped change it for the better. When all the screaming and the histrionics are forgotten, that will remain.”