Po poročanju britanskega BBC-ja je igralec umrl ob družini, v bolnišnici Jupiter Medical Center na Floridi, za posledicami srčnega napada. Že leta 2010 naj bi prestal operacijo srca, pravi njegov sin Quinton.
Igral je v poznanih ameriških serijah Gunsmoke (1962–1965) in Dan August (1970–1971); prav tako pa v filmih Zaporniško dvorišče (1974), legendarnem Smokey in Bandit I in II (1977, 1980), Semi-Tough (1977), Hooper (1978), Dirka Cannonball (1981), The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (1982) in drugih. Trenutno je sodeloval pri filmu o Charlesu Mansonu, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, ki ga režira Quentin Tarantino.
Leta 1997 je igral znamenito vlogo direktorja pornografije v filmu Vroče noči in bil nominiran za oskarja.
Igralec in nekdanji kalifornijski guverner Arnold Schwarzenegger je na omrežji twitter zapisal, da je bil Reynolds eden njegovih herojev.
Burt Reynolds was one of my heroes. He was a trailblazer. He showed the way to transition from being an athlete to being the highest paid actor, and he always inspired me. He also had a great sense of humor - check out his Tonight Show clips. My thoughts are with his family.
— Arnold (@Schwarzenegger) September 6, 2018
