Kristine was raised on a small self-sufficient farm in upstate New York. As a young girl, she took ballet and was studying voice. At 14, she began modeling for Macy’s. During her freshman year of high school, Kristine auditioned for and won the part of Marta in the musical THE SOUND OF MUSIC. The following summer, the now-famous Mac-Haydn Theatre opened in DeBell's hometown, featuring THE SOUND OF MUSIC as its last show of its season. Kristine auditioned for the part of Marta again, however producers felt her voice was too mature and cast her as the naughty postulant. This was the beginning of a fruitful four performance seasons with The Mac-Haydn Theatre. After graduation from high school and a year at Berkeley College studying Fashion Merchandising, Kristine began modeling for Ford Models. While with Ford, Kristine discovered the film industry, debuting as the star of the 1976 erotic musical comedy film Alice in Wonderland at the age of 22. The film was initially supposed to be a softcore X-rated film but later the producers added hardcore scenes. Kristine said she was pressured to perform an unsimulated blowjob on one of the actors and then perform unsimulated oral sex on one of the female actresses for the first time in her life. She later said this hurt her future career. Kristine starred in a number of motion pictures including MEATBALLS (Bill Murray’s first film and Ivan Reitman’s directorial debut), BLOOD BROTHERS with Richard Gere, directed by Robert Mulligan, and THE BIG BRAWL (Jackie Chan's first American film).