When she was only 12, Christine's parents, horrified by Fidel Castro's communist takeover, secretly sent her to the United States alone via the clandestine kids' rescue operation known as Pedro Pan (Peter Pan).
To cope with the pain of exile, she turned to comedy and -inspired by legendary performers like Sid Caesar, Imogene Coca, Carl Reiner, Jack Benny, Carol Burnett and Peter Sellers- began a successful career as a ground-breaking bilingual actress, writer and producer.
She quickly became the top Hispanic commercial pitch-woman, starring in hundreds of national, English and Spanish-language television and radio spots. She was the first Hispanic woman in South Florida to host a television talk show, a weekly English-language program called Getting Together.
She was also the first Hispanic hired by Players Theatre at Miami¹s Coconut Grove Playhouse...working first (as Company Manager) with actors like a then-unknown Denzel Washington - and later as an actress, co-starring with (and being directed by) another Academy Award winner - the late José Ferrer.
Through years of weekly appearances on Spanish-language television's top-rated Sábado Gigante, Christine earned an immense international following which resulted in her being named 'Hispanic TV's Most Popular Comedic Actress'.
Much in demand as a comedy writer, she has created and written numerous television sitcoms, bilingual advertising campaigns and critically acclaimed stage comedies.Her creative efforts have resulted in countless acting and writing awards by South Florida critics, as well as several coveted Silver Mike Awards for her work as a bilingual voice-over talent.
Christine has proudly supported many charitable causes, among them the American Red Cross (as a member of its Celebrity Cabinet), the Hispanic Health Council and Costa Rican Children's Charities.In 2004, after a long and painful bout with a form of Muscular Dystrophy (but having just had the thrill of auditioning personally for CBS chief Leslie Moonves ), she decided to retire and write about her extraordinary life experiences.
Her book is tentatively titled Falling Down Funny.
