W. Scholl, 81; Designer of Faddish Dr. Scholl’s Sandal

William Scholl, who made foot care fashionable during the 1960s and ‘70s with a contoured wood sandal designed to exercise the muscles, has died. He was 81.

Scholl died March 15 from a rare form of pneumonia at a hospice in Douglas on the Isle of Man, an island off the northwest coast of England, said his wife, Susan.

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

An orthopedic specialist, Scholl brought a simple wood sandal from Germany in the late 1950s, carved it to fit the foot, added a leather strap across the toes, and sold it in the United States with the slogan: “Looking good and doing you good.”

The sandal--still being produced and sold--was designed to exercise the feet and legs, toning muscles and ostensibly preventing podiatric ailments. The touted health benefits, the sassy clip-clop sound, and the simplicity of the style charmed the hippie generation.

“The miniskirt was in and the sandal just appealed to them,” Susan Scholl said.

Born in London on Sept. 24, 1920, Scholl was the third son of Frank Scholl, an American of German descent.

He majored in modern languages at Cambridge University. Traveling in America at the outset of World War II, Scholl was unable to get back to Britain, so he joined the U.S. Army. He used his language skills as an intelligence officer, interrogating German and Japanese prisoners of war.

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

William Scholl 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.

In his retirement years, he ran the Dr. Scholl Foundation, a charitable body that has given about $200 million to various causes.

He also maintained an active physical lifestyle, learning to windsurf as he turned 65 and skiing well into his 70s.

He is survived by his wife and their daughter, Lucy Jane; and by the five children from his first marriage, Michael, Paul, Peter, Tony and Mary.