During his literary career he composed nearly one hundred tragedies and comedies, many of which were printed, and about twenty of them obtained temporary popularity.

He is still occasionally remembered for his caricature of Samuel Ireland as Sir Bamber Blackletter in Fortune's Fool,[1] and for his adaptations of some of Shakespeare's comedies.

Born in Lime Street, London, Frederick Reynolds was the grandson of an opulent merchant at Trowbridge in Wiltshire, and the son of a whig attorney who acted for Chatham, Wilkes, and many other prominent politicians.

It is still remembered through a jest of Sheridan, who burst into the greenroom, when the success of the play was established, with the shout of inquiry, "Where is he, my guardian angel?"

He married Elizabeth Mansel on 16 March 1799,[9] a young lady from Llangyfelach, Glamorgan, South Wales, who had taken to the stage and was then engaged at the Covent Garden Theatre.

The couple moved to Newman Street in 1803, where his neighbors were Mrs. Siddons, Amelia Opie, and Thomas Holcroft.

[10] From 1814 to 1822 Reynolds was permanently engaged at Covent Garden Theatre as "thinker" for the management, and after the lapse of a year he discharged the same duties for Elliston at Drury Lane.

In the conclusion, he writes, "[H]aving been omitted from many wills on account of my supposed wealth, I hope this true, and faithful exposition of the real state of my finance, may catch the eye of some rich testator, and induce him to make me reparation, by bequeathing me a thumping legacy.