Late actor/director Harold Ramis is set to be honoured with a posthumous award from the Writers Guild of America in honour of his achievements in screenwriting.

The Ghostbusters star died in February (14), and almost one year later, officials at the Writers Guild of America West will fete him with their Laurel Award.

Announcing the honour on Tuesday (13Jan15), WGA West Vice President Howard A. Rodman says, "Harold Ramis changed the face of comedy. His death last year deprived us of his unique way of seeing the world, at once hilarious and wise. From his early work with National Lampoon and Sctv through Animal House, Meatballs, Caddyshack and Ghostbusters, Ramis' voice was strong, clear, outrageous in all the best ways.

"His unrealized projects - an adaptation of Confederacy of Dunces, a biopic about Emma Goldman - leave us aching with an anticipation that will never be fulfilled. And then there's Groundhog Day, one of modern cinema's few true masterworks, a film that is impeccably crafted, morally astute, emotionally sustaining, philosophically insightful and funny as hell. We could watch it again and again and forever."

Ramis' widow Erica Mann Ramis and her family will be on hand to accept the prize at the WGA Awards on 14 February (15).

Past recipients of the Laurel Award include screenwriters David Mamet, Lawrence Kasdan, Tom Stoppard and Paul Mazursky.