Kristine was raised on a small self-sufficient farm in upstate New York. As a young girl, she took ballet and studied 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 in NYC. Kristine starred in a number of motion pictures including Meatballs (Bill Murray's first film and Ivan Reitman's directorial debut), Blood Brothers (Richard Gere's first film, directed by Robert Mulligan), and The Big Brawl (Jackie Chan's first American film).