[Deathwatch] William Scholl, Footcare Specialist, 81

Sun, 24 Mar 2002 11:50:54 -0800 (PST)

Creator of famed footwear, Dr. Scholl, dies
March 24, 2002 Posted: 8:46 AM EST (1346 GMT)

http://www.cnn.com/2002/US/03/24/dr.scholl.ap/index.html

LONDON, England (AP) -- William Scholl, who made foot care fashionable
during the 1960s and '70s with a contoured wooden sandal designed to
exercise the muscles, died March 15 from a rare form of pneumonia at a
hospice on the Isle of Man, an island off the northwest coast of
England. He was 81. 

Scholl's "Original Exercise Sandal" -- known as Dr. Scholl's, the name
of his family's foot care company -- was worn for nearly two decades by
millions of women worldwide. 

An orthopedic specialist, Scholl came across a simple wooden sandal
during a trip to Germany in the 1950s. He carved it to fit the foot,
added a leather strap across the toes, and sold it in the United
States. 

The clog -- still produced and sold today -- was designed to exercise
the feet and legs, toning muscles. Scholl said it would prevent
podiatric ailments. 

Scholl, a dual citizen of Britain and the United States, majored in
modern languages at Cambridge University and used his language skills
as an intelligence officer in World War II, interrogating German and
Japanese prisoners of war. 

He returned to the family shoe business begun by his uncle, an American
physician who began selling podiatrists' equipment in 1906. 

He took Dr. Scholl's public in 1971, and it became a brand of
Schering-Plough Health Care Products in 1979. He became president of
Schering-Plough's international consumer products division and worked
for the company until his retirement in 1984. 