The House Next Door

Alan M. Levin didn't just make movies. He made careers.

The 79-year-old Maplewood, N.J. resident, who died in his sleep Monday at his home, was a documentary filmmaker whose long career was studded with milestones. These included the 1986 "Frontline" special "Inside the Jury Room," the first program to show jury deliberations; the WNET Channel 13 documentary series "The 51st State"; several HBO "America Undercover" documentaries made with his filmmaker son, Marc Levin, and a long collaboration with PBS' Bill Moyers.

But Mr. Levin was equally significant for mentoring generations of younger documentarians. Their ranks include Sheila Nevins, head of HBO's documentary division; Alex Gibney ("Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"); Hart Perry ("Haiti: Killing the Dream"); Barbara Kopple ("American Dream," "Wild Man Blues") and Eugene Jarecki ("Why We Fight").

To read the Star-Ledger obituary, click here.