Christine Schorn was born on February 1, 1944 in Prague to the actors Josef Peter Schorn and Elisabeth Wilander. She grew up in Kiel and Berlin. She decided early on to become an actress, but was initially rejected by drama school and worked as a saleswoman and a laundress. In 1961, on her second attempt, she was accepted at the Staatliche Schauspielschule (State Drama School) in East Berlin, where she studied until 1964. She then joined the ensemble of the Deutsches Theater, where she played major roles in numerous productions until 2013. Her acclaimed debut in the youth play "Unterwegs", as well as performances in "Long Day's Journey into Night", "Medea" and "Uncle Vanya" demonstrated her talent. From 1973 to 1980 she took a break from stage acting for personal reasons.

Schorn also had early success on television, receiving the GDR National Award in 1968 for her role as an engineer in "Zeit ist Glück" by Lothar Bellag. Her film career began in 1971 with a supporting role in Egon Günther's "Der Dritte" ("Her Third"). She gained recognition with leading roles in "Nachtspiele" (1978), "Heute abend und morgen früh" (1979) by Dietmar Hochmuth and Lothar Warneke's "Die Beunruhigung" ("Apprehension", 1981). Her sensitive performance as a psychologist who questions her entire life because of a suspected case of breast cancer earned her the award for best actress at the 2nd National Film Festival of the GDR. She received another award for "Eine sonderbare Liebe" (A Strange Love") in 1984 and the Critics' Award for Best Actress in Film and Television in 1983.

After the German reunification, Christine Schorn continued to shine in various TV and film roles. In the satirical TV mini-series "Wir sind auch nur ein Volk" (1994), she played a teacher alongside Manfred Krug, for which she was nominated for a German Television Award. Notable film appearances include "Good Bye, Lenin! (2003), "Hitlerkantate" ("Hitler Cantata", 2005), "Nichts Als Gespenster" ("Nothing but Ghosts", 2007) and her award-winning performance in "Frei nach Plan" ("According to the Plan", 2007). She continued with roles in films such as "Giulias Verschwinden" ("Julia’s Disappearance", 2009), "Halt auf freier Strecke" ("Stopped on Track", 2011), "Männerherzen... und die ganz ganz große Liebe" ("Men in the City 2", 2011) and "Jesus liebt mich" ("Jesus Loves Me", 2012).

Her supporting role as a grandmother in "Das Leben ist nichts für Feiglinge" ("Life Is Not For Cowards") by André Erkau earned her a second German Film Award in 2013. In 2014, she also received the German Actor Award for this role.

In 2016, she was honored with the "Golden Ox" for lifetime achievement at the Film Art Festival Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. In 2019, she received another honorary award for her lifetime achievement at the German Actor's Award.

Christine Schorn continued her prolific career with numerous roles in both television and film, often portraying the mothers of adult leads due to her age. Notable television roles include the film series "Familie Bundschuh" (2015), the comedy "Urlaub mit Mama" (2018), and the miniseries "Die Toten von Marnow" ("Marnow Murders", 2021) and "Das Begräbnis" (2022). She also appeared in the award-winning three-part series "Unterleuten - Das zerrissene Dorf" ("Unterleuten – The Torn Village", 2020) as the wife of an influential landowner and played a storm-tested nun in the romantic comedy "Da hilft nur beten! (2022).

In the tragicomedy "Zwei im falschen Film" ("Mission: Love"), Schorn portrayed Marc Hosemann's mother, who suffers from dementia. In Edward Berger's "All My Loving" (2019), she played the parents of three different siblings alongside Manfred Zapatka.

In the highly praised provincial milieu study "Alle reden übers Wetter" ("Talking About The Weather", 2022), Schorn had a supporting role as the grandmother of the main character. In Emily Atef's literary adaptation "Irgendwann werden wir uns alles erzählen" ("Someday We’ll Tell Each Other Everything", 2023), she also portrayed a rural grandmother.