Iannella was born in the small village of San Sossio Baronia in Avellino, Italy, and arrived in the U.S. with his mother and sister at the age of eight, unable to speak English.

He was one of the "college boys" featured in William Foote Whyte's classic text, Street Corner Society.

[2] A Democrat, Iannella was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1950,[3] and to the Boston City Council in November 1957.

As a child, Iannella lived with his parents in one of the apartment buildings that was razed in order to make room for the mall.

[8] Richard P. Iannella was an at-large City Council member from 1994 through 1996 and Suffolk County Register of Probate from 1997 to 2011.