She grew up in Bakersfield, California. Dalene began her modeling career by entering and winning a Venus Swimwear contest. She then debuted in Playboy magazine as the Miss September 2001 Playboy Playmate after being spotted at the Miss Hawaiian Tropic pageant.

Kurtis' Playmate pictorial was the first Playmate of the Month pictorial without any pubic hair at all. Another signature attribute is her lower back tattoo of a butterfly just above her buttocks.

In 2003, Playboy released a soft plastic Playboy Doll of her. The doll was based on computer scans of her face and body; hence it is an anatomically accurate model of her.

Dalene is mentioned in the best selling book The Game as one of the first women the author Neil Strauss attempts to pick up.

Dalene hosted the TV show NOPI Tunervision in its first year on TNN for the 2002-2003 season.