Dave Tough was an American jazz drummer associated with Dixieland and swing jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. He was one of the busiest, most highly-regarded drummers in jazz during this period. In the 1930s he worked with the big bands of Tommy Dorsey, Red Norvo, Bunny Berigan, and Benny Goodman as well as the smaller groups of Bud Freeman, Jack Teagarden, Eddie Condon, Mezz Mezzrow, and Joe Marsala. In the 1940s, he played with the big bands of Charlie Spivak, Claude Thornhill, Artie Shaw and Woody Herman as well as the groups of Eddie Condon, Jerry Gray, Muggsy Spanier and Will Bradley. He suffered from epilepsy, a condition that was poorly understood at the time. He died during a seizure at the age of 41.