[1] She took acting lessons in Munich and worked in the stage in Germany for around 4 years (1961-1963), then Christiane turned to photographic modeling for several German pornographic magazines, and later, Playboy.

In 1959 against strong family opposition – her mother wanted her to follow a career in medicine – Christiane Schmidtmer moved to Munich, where she began taking acting lessons.

Schmidtmer worked onstage in Germany from 1961–63, then turned to photographic modelling for German fashion and nude magazines and later, Playboy in the USA.

She was hired as their featured model and introduced at the New York World's Fair in 1964 followed by an American tour with visits to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Chicago.

After her return to Los Angeles, she met polyglot language teacher and publisher Michel Thomas for the first time in August 1965 at the Chateau Marmont Hotel.

[3] Throughout the 1970s and towards the end of her career, Schmidtmer appeared in numerous US talk shows, television series, and B-movie productions such as The Giant Spider Invasion (1975).

In 1980, shortly before ending her movie career, she published her autobiography My Wild Nights in Hollywood in German magazines, which detailed her claimed affairs with many actors, including a relationship with Glenn Ford.