Born in New York City, New York, Cannella received a Bachelor of Science degree from Fordham University in 1930 and a Bachelor of Laws from Fordham University School of Law in 1933. He played professional football for the New York Giants in 1933 and 1934. He was in private practice in New York City from 1935 to 1940 and was an Assistant United States Attorney of the Southern District of New York from 1940 to 1942. During World War II, he was a United States Coast Guard Executive Officer to the Intelligence Service for the Third Naval District, from 1942 to 1945. He was then an assistant counsel in the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for New York City in 1945, and was Commissioner of the New York State Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity from 1945 to 1948, and of the New York State Department of Licenses from 1948 to 1949. He was an Associate Justice of the New York Court of Special Sessions from 1949 to 1963.
