Of an Italian father and a Cuban mother, Robert studied in the catholic school St. Michaels, where he got involved in different activities, including acting in school plays.
When he was 13 years old, his parents divorced and he moved with his mother to Puerto Rico. Two years later, they returned to the United States and settled in Coconut Creek, Florida, where Robert attended high school, graduating in 1980.
Determined to dedicate himself to acting, Bobby he moved to New York, where he worked in bars to support himself. He avoided the confinement of an acting school and instead gained experience as a “reader” in the theater company. Naked Angels. At that time (1994), he met and married the actress Jenny Lumet, daughter of the director Sidney Lumet. The following year they had their son Jake, but the couple divorced in 2003.
After its theatrical beginnings Cannavale started acting in some movies like “Night falls on Manhattan“(1997) and”The bone Collector“(1999), but he really became known by playing Bobby caffey in the television series “Third Watch“.
In 2002 he joined the cast of “Ally mcbeal“, in the final five episodes of the series, after which, he participated in the miniseries”Kingpin“. Between 2004 and 2006 he had the recurring role of Vince D’Angelo on “Will & Grace“, for which he won an award Emmy in the category Best Guest Artist in comedy series.
Other guest artist performances were in the series “Sex in New York“,”Six feet under“,”Oz“,”Law“,”Law and Order: Criminal Action” Y “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit“His last job was that of Detective Eddie Saccardo, in the seventh season of “Open Case (Cold Case)“.